


Found

by Pixie_7



Category: Fast & Furious (Movies)
Genre: Alpha/Beta/Omega Dynamics, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Blood and Injury, Forced Bonding, Found Family, Pack Dynamics, Pack Family, Past Abuse, Runaway, Self-Harm, Subdrop, Submissives, Violence
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-01-15
Updated: 2021-02-07
Packaged: 2021-03-12 18:20:43
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Rape/Non-Con
Chapters: 12
Words: 49,040
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28764702
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Pixie_7/pseuds/Pixie_7
Summary: Cara has been on the run for months fleeing a dark past. Living in the shadows until bad weather and desperation put her in the path of an alpha with dark eyes who offers her a hot meal. It was just supposed to be one night, but with no where else to go and the pull of the pack becoming stronger she can't quite make herself leave.
Relationships: Brian O'Conner/Mia Toretto, Leon/Letty Ortiz
Comments: 7
Kudos: 18





	1. Day 1- Found

**Author's Note:**

> First fic, please be gentle! See tags for TW, more will be added as the story progresses. Constructive criticism is welcome in the comments.

It was a chilly day at the market, the overcast sky tinting the city gray. Along with cloudy skies there was also a strong breeze that kicked up dirt and made the palm trees sway almost violently. Because of the weather the café portion of the market was deserted, no one wanted to sit outside on a day like this. To be fair, the weather wasn’t really that bad, but, for early October in LA it was considered terrible. 

So it was a surprise when the same girl who had been coming in every day for the past two weeks showed up at the market. Dom had figured she was new to the area and just went to his store out of convenience, what with it being in the center of a largely residential area after all. But that theory went out the window when she showed up, in the shittiest weather so far this year, just to look at the clearance rack. Dom wasn’t an idiot; he knew a street kid when he saw one. 

He also knew that there was nothing on the clearance rack as they had sold out of all the perishables the day before. The kid soon found this out for herself, seeing her shoulders slump and practically feeling the dread roll off her. Dom winced, he knew what it was like to go hungry, he knew that there was nothing on the clearance rack yesterday too. If this was her only source of food then the kid was probably starving. He hoped that she had other places to go but he doubted it. Dom strongly suspected that she came here every day because he made a point to ignore her and Mia, always quick on the uptake, copied his attitude towards the girl. If nobody paid attention to her then the teen remained invisible, and invisibility was necessary for survival.

Still, food was necessary for survival too and he could tell, now that he actually looked at her, that she definitely wasn’t eating often or enough. She reminded him of Jesse when he and Leon first came to the garage looking for work; she didn’t just resemble him in lack of body fat, but in the exhaustion and fear in her eyes as well. Today was Saturday, tomorrow was the weekly Sunday BBQ. He wanted to bring her back to the house and stuff her full of food tomorrow. Dom couldn’t do that though, she wasn’t his.

She was turning to leave, unsurprisingly she didn’t have anything in her hands to purchase. There was a chance that she would just steal something but he knew how to spot a shoplifter and, by the way she acted, she obviously wasn’t one. But even if she was, he wouldn’t have been able to bring himself to stop her. Dom was about a second away from calling her over when he saw, from the corner of his eye, the girl disappearing around the corner. He frowned, hoping that she would come back soon. After all, the clouds looked like rain. 

\------------------  
Yup, it was raining. Not only did that mean that the race would be cancelled tonight (street-racers were adrenaline junkies, not suicidal), it also meant that Dom had to drive below the speed limit. Not wanting her to drive in the rain, he had sent Mia home a few hours before it started. It wasn’t that hard to close up the shop considering the café hadn’t been used at all that day, he just needed to sweep the floor and lock everything up. 

After finishing the last of his tasks he shrugged on his leather jacket and grabbed his keys, making sure to turn all the lights off on his way out the door. After securing the lock he hopped in his car before he got too wet, reminding himself to eventually get a jacket with a hood. Driving safely the trip home was about 20 minutes, and, of course, all the radio channels were static because southern California didn’t know how to handle a little water falling from the sky. Needless to say, Dom wasn’t a happy driver. But, a few minutes later he thought himself a lucky one because there was that girl, the one from his store. She was walking on the side of the road without an umbrella and, while she had on a jacket, it was made of cloth and therefore soaked. So, yeah, the weather sucked, business had been dead all day and the team couldn’t race tonight, but hey, at least he could help this kid out. 

Dom pulled over to the side of the road and lowered the passenger window, hoping the kid would notice him on her own but she didn’t. “Hey, kid!” he called out, not expecting the girl to jump about fifty fucking feet into the air. She then turned and looked at him but didn’t say anything, just tightened her hold on her backpack strap. He sighed, “Relax, kid, I’m not gonna hurt you. I own Toretto’s, I’ve seen you in there a lot and just wanted to make sure you can make it back to your pack safely. These roads are dangerous when wet.” She gave a short nod and looked at the ground. Dom knew that she didn’t have a pack to go to, this close to her he should have been able to smell them. No pack meant no protection, even homeless kids usually formed packs of their own, they were by no means traditional but they offered some sort of stability and a sense of belonging. 

“You don’t have a pack.” She looked at him sharply for a split second before looking away just as quickly. Inability to hold eye-contact with an alpha could mean a few things: 1) she was a sub who hadn’t been put down in a long-ass time, 2) she’d been abused, or 3) she already had an alpha who was pretty conservative. Since number three wasn’t an option Dom’s concern for the girl just grew. “Listen kid, I’m not gonna do anything to ya just because you don’t have a pack, ok? But it isn’t safe out here right now; I can tell you’re shaking, you’re paler than my shirt, and I know that you haven’t eaten in at least two days. You know that girl who works at the café, right?” She nodded, “That’s my sister, Mia, she’s at home right now cooking dinner. How about you come with me and we’ll get some food in ya.” The girl visibly wavered, the promise of a hot meal and a reprieve from the rain was probably more than enticing, but she was still unsure.

“Kid,” he waited for her to look at him, “I got you, I promise.” She did another quick glance at his eyes before taking a large breath and getting in.

\------------

Dom’s alpha rumbled happily. Although he hadn’t confirmed it, he was certain that this girl was a sub, and as an alpha he had a biological drive to look out for submissives. As soon as she got in he turned up the heat in the car and flicked on her seat-warmer, then waited for her to fasten her seat belt. A stick would be more relaxed than her, fear fear fear hopeless flooded into her scent with an underlying note of resignation. It made him consider if she was coming with him because she felt ordered to or because she had nowhere else to go. It was disconcerting and troubling, what would happen if someone else had driven by and stopped? A packless sub was rare and they were often taken advantage of if caught alone. 

Trying to make her more at ease, he started talking, idle conversation to fill the silence “Mia has some spare clothes you can borrow while we wash, or at least dry, the ones that you have on. You’re pretty scrawny so they’ll be too big, but at least they’ll be warm. How ya doin’?” Jesus, her lips were practically blue. She didn’t answer, just kept shaking like a leaf. “Kid?” 

“Sorry!” She blurted, then ducked her head. Well shit, option number two was looking more likely. 

“Hey,” Dom let his alpha soothe in a low, calm, tone, “it’s okay kid, if you don’t feel comfortable talking, then you don’t need to, okay? It’s not a problem, I just want to make sure you’re okay.” She didn’t speak, but she did nod.

“Okay,” They were about five minutes out from home at this point so Dom felt the need to warn her about the crowded house she was about to enter.

“So, Mia’s probably going to be done with dinner by the time we get there, she’s a real sweet girl, won’t give you any trouble. The rest of my pack, Letty, Vince, Brian, Jesse, and Leon, they’re easy-going too. Vince can be hard-headed and Jesse is hyperactive on his best days but they won’t hurt you or nothin’. I’ll make sure to let them know that you might not be talking a whole lot, okay?” He couldn’t see her face the way it was tilted towards the window, but he would bet that she was looking pretty freaked considering he hadn’t mentioned the rest of his pack earlier. Then again, she had been in the shop enough times to probably know he was the alpha of a pack; his crew had been in there enough that she wouldn’t be able to miss their dynamics. Dom theorized that it was the prospect of actually meeting them that was unnerving her. 

“Can you tell me your name?” It took her a second to reply.

“Cara.” 

He smiled, “Nice to meet you Cara, I’m Dom.”

A moment later he pulled into the driveway of his home, thankful that everyone else appeared to already be there if the number of cars in the driveway were anything to go by. He put the car in park and went to the passenger door and opened it for her, a look of surprise came across her face but she didn’t say anything, just ducked her head in a formal acknowledgement of a kind gesture from an alpha. He closed the door after her and started up the driveway to the back door, she followed close to his side but put enough distance between them so that she could bolt if she wanted to. Not that she could outrun him, she was so unhealthy looking that even Jesse could overtake her, but he didn’t mention this and allowed her the peace of mind. He couldn’t believe that with the amount of fear-scent she had been putting out that she had allowed him to bring her this far. 

“Mia, this is Cara, she’s going to have dinner with us tonight.” Mia turned away from the counter and gave the young girl a smile that lit up her face.

“Hi Cara! It’s great to meet you, officially that is. I’ve seen you around the market a few times. Dinner is almost ready; would you like to borrow some clothes? We can dry yours during dinner if you’d like.” Cara froze, looking like a deer trapped in headlights. She looked at Dom for help, not knowing how to answer. 

“I think that would be a good idea, Mia. It’s pretty cold outside this time of year.” 

Mia, noticing Cara’s uneasiness at the whole situation, addressed Dom, “I have some sweats on top of the dryer as well as some socks, they’re clean, I just did laundry last night.” 

“Thanks Mia, is the dryer empty?”

“Yeah, feel free to throw your clothes in when you’re done changing Cara.”

It wasn’t an order, but it sounded enough like one that the young sub relaxed enough to do as Mia said, poor kid was definitely sub-starved. Dom took her to the laundry room, handed her some black and navy sweats and a pair of warm socks and pointed her in the direction of the bathroom, making a point not to follow in her direction even though the kitchen was across from the bathroom, the last thing the kid needed was to think Dom was going to attack her or something. When he got back to the kitchen the entire pack was assembled in there. It wasn’t a particularly small house, but the team was so in tune with their surroundings that they could smell a foreign scent entering into their territory from a mile away.

“We got a dinner guest then?” Unsurprisingly, Vince spoke first.

“Yeah, the homeless kid from the shop, name’s Cara.”

“What’s her deal?”

Dom shrugged, “Came in to check the clearance rack today like every other day of the week, nothing on it and there hasn’t been for a few days now. She looks like she hasn’t eaten in a while, obviously a sub without a pack. Saw her walking home in this god-awful weather, couldn’t just leave her by the side of the road.”

Letty smirked, “We adopting her?” Dom looked at her, confused.

“Come on, we love adopting strays.” He rolled his eyes.

“She’s staying for dinner, at the least. We’ll try to get her to stay for longer but she looks about ready to bolt at the drop of a pin. Kid’s obviously sub-starved and doesn’t talk, when she does she stutters. I have a feeling whoever her alpha was before this needs a beat-down. So everyone just act calm and don’t make any sudden moves, got it?” 

“We got a spare room, if she wants to stay. She doesn’t smell bad or nothin’.” Vince might be an asshole sometimes but he wasn’t a bad guy, and he knew first-hand what it was like to have a shitty alpha. Dom nodded at him and began talking about dinner when he heard the bathroom door open from down the hall. Leon and Jesse finished putting food on the table and Vince snagged the drinks from the fridge. There was an empty seat left open next to Mia and Jesse, hopefully sitting next to a female beta and a borderline sub would make her less on edge. A second later the kid, Dom couldn’t help but think of her as that, appeared in the doorway of the kitchen and, upon seeing the full room, froze. 

“We saved you a seat next to Mia and Jesse. I should warn you though, these guys have no table manners at all, they’re total pigs I swear.” The implied direction made her shoulders un-tense and she sat in the open seat ‘assigned’ to her. Although once seated she appeared confused as to what to do next. 

Despite what everyone said, Vince wasn’t an idiot. He’d have to be blind and dumb not to recognize the archaic behavior of a sub waiting their turn for food. It was one of those old-fashioned mannerisms taught to submissives back when they had no rights and were regarded as little more than slaves; everyone else ate first and, if they were lucky, there would be enough left over for the sub. He wasn’t having that, the kid looked less than 90 pounds and she was fucking soaking wet. So, he reached across the table and snagged her plate, noting the hopelessness that flashed in her eyes when he did so, poor kid probably thought he wouldn’t allow her even the chance to get some food. 

“I gotcha kid.” He assured because, fuck, he couldn’t stand to see her look like a kicked puppy for a second longer. He filled her plate until he couldn’t fit another morsel on it and then slowly placed it back in front of her. Everyone, knowing what was going on with Cara, carried on serving themselves as if nothing was out of the ordinary, as if there wasn’t a beaten and traumatized kid about to have a panic attack in their kitchen. Cara stared at the plate in front of her, Vince was sure she hadn’t had that much food at once in a long time and probably wouldn’t be able to finish it all without being sick.

“Don’t worry if you can’t finish it all, yeah? If you can’t then we’ll just save the leftovers if you get hungry later, okay?” Dom nodded at Cara, the alpha of the pack affirming that this was okay. Slowly Cara tucked into her meal, eyes widening at the delicious tastes exploding on her taste buds. 

“Mia is the best cook here, everyone else somehow burns the water for pasta even.”

“Hey! I can make really good toast! Like, amazing toast! Seriously, Cara, I’m going to make you try my toast in the morning, then you’ll believe me!” Jesse enthusiastically argued. 

“You burned it this morning, you nerd.” Brian ribbed

“I like it burnt sometimes!” Jesse huffed

The light banter and warm atmosphere in the kitchen allowed Cara to relax further. She couldn’t remember a time when she had been this warm and comfortable, with a full plate in front of her that she didn’t have to share, at least she didn’t think she did, everyone else had a plate already. Still, she unconsciously wrapped her arm in front of the plate, just in case. This move didn’t go unnoticed, but since almost all of the team had been in jail or juvie at some point it wasn’t exactly an abnormal action, Leon even did it sometimes on the days he forgot that he was safe now. Jesse did it as well, pretty much every meal it seemed like. He’d been with the pack for a few years now but had been fighting to survive since he was a kid. 

“Do you think the weather will clear up enough to barbeque tomorrow?” Brian asked

“Don’t think so, but we can do most of the cooking inside, I think.”

“You’re doing the chicken then Dom, you cook on Sundays, rain or shine.” Mia warned him.

“I got you sis, don’t worry.” 

“Dom makes the best baked chicken, Cara! You have to stay for it!” Jesse enthused. Cara looked uncertain, not expecting to be invited to stay longer than dinner. She glanced helplessly at Dom, alpha made the rules after all.

“Cara, you’re more than welcome to stay if you want to. We have a spare room next to Vince in the basement, it’s no trouble.” Dom spoke in a low, soothing tone, the same tone he used with Jesse when he woke up from a nightmare and couldn’t remember where he was. And, shit, the kid was panicking, apparently making decisions wasn’t her strong suit.

“We watch a movie on Saturday nights, maybe just stay until it’s over, yeah? Then you can make up your mind?” Vince added, Cara nodded, that was better.

The rest of the meal passed with light banter from around the table and Letty, more than once, picking on the guys for their terrible manners. Cara managed to eat about a fourth of her meal, her stomach having shrunk from going so long without food, she still looked weary about it but Brian smiled at her and when he cleared the table wrapped her plate in plastic wrap for later. Leon ushered her out of the kitchen before she could help clean up because “I need your help picking a movie, kid,” and that’s how the team encountered their next road-block, Cara didn’t know shit about movies. 

“Have you ever seen Star Trek?” She shook her head

“Want to give it a try?” She nodded and gave Leon a small smile, he gave her a wide grin in return. 

As the rest of the team came into the living room and sat around the TV on couches and armchairs Cara stayed on the floor where she and Leon had spread out the various movies, despite there being an open recliner for her to sit on. Dom recognized it as another trained behavior and offered her the recliner as a seat.

“The floor is pretty hard, Cara, how about you sit on the recliner here? It’s a lot more comfortable to watch a movie on.” Another light command and it, like the previous ones, put her at ease. She sat on the edge of the armchair with her back straight and feet firmly planted on the floor, Dom figured he would take what he could get. After about ten minutes Dom could see her relax back into the recliner, still sitting up but in a more comfortable position. As the movie progressed, filled with commentary and laughter from the pack, she gradually curled up on the chair. Dom’s alpha rumbled in satisfaction, the more she calmed the more his alpha felt like he was taking care of her. Vince discreetly grabbed a fluffy purple blanket from the armrest on the couch and handed it to Dom to give to pass on to the kid.

“Here.” Dom whispered, offering her the blanket. She looked surprised at the small act of kindness and slowly reached for the blanket, wrapping it around herself and curling further into the chair. She was warm and full and comfortable, all feelings that she hasn’t experienced since she was small. Cara felt safe with these strangers, she didn’t know why, but they hadn’t hit her yet and they gave her food that she didn’t have to share. The alpha, Dom, even let her sit on a comfortable chair and gave her a blanket because, even though the room wasn’t cold, she felt shivery inside. Slowly, she felt herself drifting off to sleep and tried to keep her eyes open, she had to stay alert; things happened in the dark that didn’t in the light. 

Brian saw that the kid was fighting sleep, he couldn’t blame her, she looked comfortable curled up on the recliner and wrapped in the blanket like a burrito. Quietly, he popped in the second DVD and pretended not to pay attention, he was certain that the rest of the team noticed as well but were being tactful. They weren’t ignoring her, just allowing her space so she wouldn’t feel crowded. The pack learned from their experience with Jesse not to trap a traumatized street kid. 

The movie soon ended and the pack decided to forgo the usual third movie in favor of sleep, it was nearly midnight after all. By this time the kid was out cold. 

“Should we wake her up?” Leon asked Dom

Dom looked at Cara, “Naw, let her sleep. If she woke up now she’d just try to leave and end up sleeping in this damn rain.”

“Here,” Vince handed Dom another blanket, “She’s still shivering a little.”

“Thanks, I’m hoping she’ll sleep through the night so we can feed her breakfast.”

“We are so adopting her.” Letty smiled

“Only if she wants to.” Dom murmured, gently laying the blanket over Cara and daringly brushed her bangs out of her eyes, the kid didn’t even stir. “If everyone is okay with her staying, that is.” 

Brian snorted, “No complaints here…she feels clicks here.” 

Everyone nodded and Mia smiled at her boyfriend, “She does, doesn’t she?”

“Yes! Ah guys she’s fucking awesome!” Jesse exclaimed.

“Shh, keep it down, man. And she hasn’t even spoken a word to us! But yeah, her scent’s matching up, I’m down for keeping her, gotta find whoever she’s running from and kill that son-of-a-bitch though.” Anger flashed in Vince’s eyes. 

Dom looked at him knowingly and nodded, “I’m gonna head to bed now, I’ll try to keep an ear out in case she wakes up.” 

“Doubtful she’ll wake up before morning, pup’s obviously exhausted. Anyways, night guys, see you in the morning.” Letty stretched and snagged Leon’s hand, dragging him up to their room. The rest of the pack grabbed their various items and headeed upstairs, or, in Vince’s case, down to the basement.


	2. Day 2- Settle

It was the dead of night when Cara awoke screaming, waking up everyone in the house. Dom burst out of his room and motioned for his pack to go back to theirs, God knows the entire pack running down the stairs wouldn’t make it better. He quietly and calmly made his way down the stairs, his alpha radiating feelings of calm and safety towards the distressed sub. Vince, having also heard the screaming, was already in the living room, crouched away and to the side of Cara, giving her a clear path to the door in case she wanted to get away.

“Shh, it’s okay kid, you’re safe here. Not gonna let anything happen to you, just breathe, that’s it, good job Cara.” Vince soothed.

“Cara? You okay, sweetie?” Dom spoke softly. Cara whipped her head towards him and curled into herself even tighter.

“Sor-sorry! I’m sorry! I didn’t-didn’t me-mean to wake you guys u-up!” She stuttered, it was the most she had spoken since he met her.

Dom copied Vince and crouched down after turning on a lamp, pushing more calm into his scent in an effort to calm her down biologically “It’s okay Cara, you’re fine. Did you have a nightmare?” She nodded.

“We all get those sometimes, it’s nothing to be sorry about.” She still didn’t uncurl.

“I’ll leave, I’ll-I’ll leave, I’m sorry, I shouldn’t-shouldn’t have stayed here, I-I’m sorry.”

“No kid, we’re really glad you’re here right now. You’re right where you should be, okay? You can leave if you want, but we’d really like you to stay.” Cara nodded and didn’t move.

“Do you think you can go back to sleep?” She lowered her eyes and shook her head.

“That’s okay,” Vince glanced at the clock on the mantle, 5 am, “I usually wake up around this time anyways. Do you want something warm to drink?” 

“…Okay.” 

Vince smiled and stood up, offering her his hand, “Come on kid, I’ll brew a pot of coffee, you can bring the blanket if you want.” Her hand was clutching the purple blanket.  
“Dom? Want to join us?”

“Of course, I wake up at this time too.” He followed them into the kitchen where Vince started brewing some coffee and Cara stood in the doorway, obviously unsure of where to sit. Dom pulled out a chair for her and she obediently sat in it. Dom got three mugs out and set them on the table then sat down across from Cara. Vince brought the coffee over and sat down next to on her other side. 

“Here ya go pup, nectar of the gods, don’t know how I’d get through the day without it.” Her brow furrowed a bit at the endearment but otherwise she continued her focus on the mug in front of her.

“Ha, I hear ya Vince, but Brian’s worse than us.” He looked at Cara, “Buster drinks about two pots a day plus energy drinks, he’s a total caffeine addict.” The drink was visibly perking her up, they probably had another coffee addict on their hands, great. Dom could just imagine the kid bouncing off the walls and getting into Brian’s energy drinks, well, one day maybe. 

“Do you want to talk about it?” Vince asked her quietly, she looked down and didn’t answer, “You’re not in trouble, kid.”

“How about we ask you questions and you can answer if you want to.” She nodded consent.

“Okay, was it about your past?” She nodded

“…Did it have to do with your old pack?” Another nod

“Your old alpha?” It took a moment but eventually she gave another nod

“You’re safe here, kid. We won’t let anyone get to you.”

“…Why?” She asked quietly

“Why what?”  
She swallowed, “Why are you being so nice to me?”

“We like ya.” She looked even more confused.

“Cara, maybe you haven’t seen a lot of kindness in your life, but kindness doesn’t need to be earned and not everything has a catch.”

There was a long pause, “We would like it if you stayed.” Dom told her, making her eyes widen.

“You don’t have to if you don’t want to, and you’re free to go any time. But we’re not going to kick you out…kid, you-” Dom cut himself off, knowing somehow that proposing she join their pack or let her in on their intentions would spook her. Right now she needs time, and to build trust in them. “It’s not safe out there” he continued “and a lot of us know what it’s like to be without protection. For a sub it’s even more dangerous, I know you know that.” She bowed her head as he pressed on, “We’d really like it if you stayed, you don’t have to if you don’t want to, but we got an extra room and everything, won’t be no waste of resources on us.”

“What about-”

“Everyone agrees about this, all are accepting of you staying with us.” 

There was a long pause, Dom and Vince gave her time to consider the offer. She was obviously weighing her options and the risks involved in each one. “Rules?” She finally whispered.

“Kid, you don’t-” Dom cut Vince off.

“Rules, okay. The same ones apply to everyone else here: no destroying shit on purpose, no stealing, no hitting, no staying out past midnight and not calling.” She nodded, brows furrowed at the lack of restrictions.

“And, wh-what would you want me to d-do?” Dom had a good idea what she really meant by the question and felt himself sicken.

“You don’t need to do anything. But some basic expectations are to keep your area somewhat clean, pitch in with a chore now and then, eat with the pack during mealtimes, and shower once a week at minimum.”

“Dom has low expectations when it comes to our hygiene.” Vince deadpanned.

“You can bathe as much as you want, sleep as much as you need, and food and water are not restricted to mealtimes. This pack has more than enough resources, you do not need to contribute financially. You’re also allowed to come with us to the market or garage if you want to, this place can get lonely and I know Jesse and the girls would like to spend time with you if you’re comfortable with that.” 

She gave a brief nod, “I understand.”

“Does that sound okay?” She nodded, giving her consent.

“If you decide to leave I ask that you give us a little notice, we’d worry if you disappeared.” She nodded again.

“A few warnings,” Dom began, noticing her visibly tense and dread invade her scent, he pushed on, “Jesse will definitely make you eat his toast this morning.”

“It’s actually pretty good.” Assured Vince.

“And Mia and Brian will try to feed you every chance they get.”

“They’re complete mother hens.”

“Letty is going to fawn over you, big time.”

“Just some sisterly-love.”

“And Vince is gonna jump whoever so much looks at you wrong.”

Vince growled, “You better believe it.”

“And I’m not gonna let anyone hurt you.”

Cara relaxed.  
\----------------

The trio sipped at their coffee for a while before Jesse came bounding down the stairs having gone back to sleep after the commotion earlier. When he saw Cara sitting at the table he burst into a smile as bright as the sun. “Toast time! Oh, and there’s coffee too, this is gonna be a great day! Hey, Cara, do you know anything about cars? Engines? I got some super cool stuff to show you, like it’ll blow your mind! I’m working on this engine that-“ Vince clapped a hand over his mouth.

“You’re speeding again, tiger.”

“Right, sorry. See, I got this thing called…it’s called…shit what do I have again?”

“ADHD.” Dom supplied

“Right, that shit-but it’s cool. I’m gonna make toast, so much toast.”

“Eggs too!” Brian said while entering the kitchen, “I’ll make the eggs, with cheese of course. Do you like eggs Cara?” A glance around the room and a small nod was his response

“Awesome, eggs it is then. Hey, is that coffee?”

Vince groaned, “You’re killing me Buster.”

\-------  
Cara was seriously attached to her backpack; this became apparent when she kept it on her back when doing laundry. It didn’t look special or anything, just a plain dark purple backpack that had obviously seen better days. Leon knew there wasn’t food in there, and it didn’t look full enough to hold any clothes or survival gear, so she had to be keeping something of importance in there. He was curious, sure, but it wasn’t a big deal, just one of the many quirks they were finding out about her. Like, the kid hardly ever talked, and when she did she stammered and twitched her hands like she wanted to move them. She kept her back to the wall whenever she could and, okay, he could understand that one. And, most obviously, she appeared to be incapable of making a decision. Although, it may not be decision-making that she had a hard time with, maybe it was voicing her preference. So when the kid pulled a sketchbook out of the backpack after changing into her now-dry clothes, Leon couldn’t help but pounce on the topic. 

“You draw?” Cara froze right before she put pencil to paper.

“I can’t draw for crap myself, mind if I see what you’re working on?”

“It’s not that good.” She protested softly

Leon quirked his lip, “Can’t be any worse than my stick figures.” She tapped on the sketchbook nervously for a second and then tilted the book so he could see it. The drawings were all over the place. There were doodles, abstract designs, still-lifes, and even a few portraits, all drawn with intricate detail. They were amazing. Leon carefully turned each page without taking the book from her, he couldn’t help grinning when he saw a few car designs in the pages. 

“Shit kid,” he breathed, “these are fucking incredible.”

“They’re just doodles…”

“No, these are not just doodles. Where did you learn to do this?”

“I got bored.” Spoken in yet another soft murmur. 

“Do you always just use pencils? Black-and-white your thing or do you like color?”

“Pencil is cheaper.” Cara said simply.

Leon didn’t comment, but resolved to get her the biggest set of colored pencils the store had.

\----------  
“Dom,” Letty addressed the alpha, “we have a problem.”

“What’s wrong?” 

“Don’t get your panties in a twist. It’s just…Cara literally has no clothes besides the ones on her back.”

Dom frowned, “I noticed, do you think you can…”

“Oh, Mia and I are always down for a shopping trip.” Letty grinned

Dom sighed, he’s been shopping with Letty before “I don’t think she’s ready for that. Do you and Mia have any old clothes or spares for now?” 

“She has to get new ones sooner or later, Dom.”

“He’s right though.” They turned and saw Jesse fidgeting near the entry. “She’d like, really freak out or bolt. I know I would have. She doesn’t know us yet and if someone offered that to me I’d think they wanted something in return, you catch my drift?”

“I already told her the rules and expectations.”

“What ‘rules and expectations’ Dom?” Letty was incensed.

“She asked Letty.”

“So?”

“No, it’s good Dom laid it out, even if they’re bullshit rules no one needs. It help to have a sense of what would fuck you over and what’s chill. Did you talk about punishments?” 

Dom swallowed, “I would never punish her, Jesse.”

“We know that, but she doesn’t. Look at her, you think she’s never had a punishment put on her? Guarantee it’s eating her up not knowing what would happen.”

“She’s not Pack, yet, I’d have no place to administer a punishment.”

“We can bring it up in casual conversation,” Brian came in, christ this was turning into a family meeting now, “make jokes about it, less direct but give her some answers. Would probably come better from Jesse or Mia and Letty, historically they would be on the same level as her in the hierarchy.”

“We don’t play by those rules, Bri.” Dom growled.  
“It’s what she knows. Whether we like it or not we have to accept that her past has been nasty and what goes with that are strict rules and punishments. I know you’re not like other alpha’s Dom, but try to see it from her perspective.”

Dom sighed, rubbing his eyes in frustration, “Jesse, you’re closest to borderline, what do you think?”

A long pause followed and Brian shifted towards him a little in an effort to bring some comfort, safe safe here with us safe calm injected into his scent. “Um,” Jesse looked down and rubbed the back of his head, “like, you’re on dish duty if you break something on purpose? Or if you’re mean to someone you need to say sorry after and tell them why.” 

“That’s great Jesse,” Dom soothed, “how about you and Brian talk about a few more and let me know, we can make a list and put it on the fridge and pretend like it’s always been there.”

“Yeah! That’s good, then she can remember and won’t need to ask or worry because it’s written down and permanent.” Dom gave a tight smile at the younger guy.  
\-------  
Jesse showed up with Leon about 5 years ago, barely seventeen and skittish as hell. He didn’t speak much, but more than Cara. Leon walked into Toretto’s and spoke for the both of them, asking for any spare jobs they had and giving a few names for references. Of course Dom was skeptical, one shrimpy barely-legal kid who couldn’t stop fidgeting and a stone-faced punk with apprehension flooding out of him despite the cocky attitude. Still, he could smell a faint scent of something underneath and despite his initial instinct had said yes.

Back then it was just him, Vince, Letty, and an incompetent dick he fired a week later. Jesse avoided all of them but took direction well and never talked back. The pair always got jobs done ahead of time and were never late, a good fit for the work. Leon was more likely to shoot the shit every once in a while, once he got settled in and dropped the act his care-free personality began to come out. Jesse followed Leon but attempts at conversation were awkward and stilted. 

One day, about 6 months in, Leon was out with the flu and Dom had all but ordered him to stay home (though he had no idea that he and Jesse were crashing in cheap motels and abandoned buildings at the time). Jesse had come in early to open, Dom made the mistake of coming up behind him and giving him a pat on the back. The kid had hit the floor and covered his neck in a second flat. It took Dom over twenty minutes of gentle coaxing to bring Jesse back up from the floor, the kid’s face red in embarrassment.

“I’m not that kind of alpha, kid.” Dom said sadly.

“Sorry.”

“Don’t be, seems like you got good reason to be wary. Here,” Dom had rubbed his hand over his neck and held it out, letting Jesse get a good whiff, “no danger, anytime you need reassurance you just ask.” Wide-eyed, scent still buzzing with apprehension, Jesse had nodded. That was the first day he drank a beer with them at lunch.

Dom wondered for a while why they picked his place, there were others before his in the direction they pair had walked in from. A year after they showed up Leon revealed that it was Jesse who had chosen, shaking his head at the other shops because they “didn’t feel right.”  
\----------  
Mia, Vince, and Leon were filled in on the situation through the group text to save them the trouble of finding an area for a family meeting where Cara could overhear them. Brian went with Jesse to his room to finish up the list, pacing could be heard outside the door, a nervous habit of the second-youngest. 

“I’m going to do some laundry.” 

“You just did a ton yesterday sis.”

“If Cara is going to stay in the spare room we need to get as much foreign scent out of there as we can. Some pretty rough people come through and I need to wash a set of bedding to make it as neutral as possible.” She explained.

“She’s not reacting to scents.” Dom muttered, “That’s not normal.”

Mia sighed, “It’s not, but still, I don’t want to risk anything.”

“Let me know if you need help. She still in the family room?”

“Leon and Letty are with her, enthusiastically discussing pop culture and ‘educating’ her about necessary films.”

Dom snorted, “Poor kid.”

“Would do some good to give her a designated private space by the end of the day, so she can hide if she needs to.”

“Letty pointed out that she needs more clothes, do you have any old things she can borrow?”  
“I got some stuff, they will be big on her but it’ll do for now. I’ll put them in the dresser down there and let her know later.”  
“How’s that BBQ coming Dom?” Brian grinned easily as he strolled in.  
“How do you think Buster? That the list?” He nodded towards the paper in Brian’s hand.  
“Yup.” He stuck it on the fridge, “Jesse’s doing okay, itching to spend some time with the girl though.”  
“I bet, you mind helping Mia get the spare room set up?”  
“Yeah, no problem. C’mon babe.” He smacked a kiss on Mia’s cheek.  
“Watch it Bri!” 

Mia stopped by the laundry room and opened up a new pair of sheets, putting them in the wash with unscented detergent and fabric softener to minimize potentially smothering scents. Brian grabbed the cleaning supplies from the below cabinet and started down the stairs.

“We should really clean this room more.” He remarked, looking at the dust covered furniture and dirty carpet.

“Probably, ugh, it’s filthy in here. How much dust can collect in a month?”

“I’ll start on the blinds, you strip the bed?”

“You got it babe.” Mia winked.

They worked in comfortable silence for several minutes, dust from the blinds falling to the already dirty carpet. “Something came up when I was talking with Dom,” Mia started, “he pointed out the Cara doesn’t seem to pick up on scents.” She turned to him, “you know any reason why that might happen?” 

“Yeah.” Brian turned away. It had taken a year of joining the pack for them to fully gather the intricate details of Brian’s childhood. Drug addict mom, shit boyfriends always around, and then a horribly abusive stepfather that left Brian with scars all over his body and a deep sense of mistrust in the world.

“Bri-”  
“When you’re really, really scared, and I mean like you’re about to die, sometimes you just stop smelling. It’s like your body shuts it down so you don’t pick up on all the hate and anger so much. It wasn’t a day-in day-out thing for me, you know? I left the bastard after a year, the streets were better but I ended the days with less marks. I’d imagine that if she lived her whole life like that, it would make sense for it to shut down completely.”

“Do you think it’s permanent?”

“I don’t know, I’m not a doctor. But maybe when she starts feeling safer biology will get back together.”

“Besides her health, Dom’s concern is that this would make it harder for her to feel safe.”

He sighed, “We just need to show her. Like this, giving her her own space, having her back when outside the house, including her in the group, food, water.” 

“Yeah, I know, it’s just hard. The shit she must have been through.” Mia was finished with the bed and began dusting the furniture.

“Jesse knows this, but I’ll say it too. Don’t go near her neck. She keeps it protected so let’s all just let it be. You know how sensitive subs are there, and bonding-” He touched his own scar, remembering how Dom had eased him down and soothed him as he shook on the couch until the memories of pain and terror had passed. Then, the brief moment of pain followed by a feeling of connection and acceptance so strong he actually cried out. He had slept in Dom’s bed that night, shaking from the new bond flaring and needing to be close to his alpha, have a physical reassurance of the promise. 

“Yeah, I know.” 

“Hey,” he stopped fighting with the blinds and smiled at her, “I love you.”

Mia smiled back, “Love you too Bri.” They finished cleaning in silence, the room looking much more presentable when finished. Mia switched the bedding to the dryer and found a bag of old clothes next to the washer, Letty had done some digging into their closets. She didn’t mind, they practically shared a wardrobe anyways.

\---------------  
“So, anyway,” Jesse rambled, on the floor across from Cara, “the thing that no one gets is how the paint has to move with the contours of the car. Yeah, a good paint job will look pretty no matter what, but to be true art there needs to be a good flow to it, you feel me?” Leon had zoned out long ago and Letty had excused herself to clean up some things in her room (clothes, Jesse knew). 

“Yeah.” She nodded, and she actually did. Color wasn’t something that she had the opportunity to work with much, but she would always get irritated at advertisements and objects that didn’t have the color “flow” that Jesse was talking about.

“Right? Hey, if you felt like it we could do some designing together, I have this great system at the garage we can play around with.” She hesitated, the house was, so far, safe, she knew how to move in here and the way to walk silently. The garage would be new territory, still the pack territory, but foreign.

“You don’t have to, it’s probably a little intimidating. I know I was at first and I worked there. But it’s super chill and has good vibes to it. Want to think about it? No pressure.” She nodded, that was easier. Jesse was easier to be around, everyone had been very kind as well but she could tell he had more submissive tendencies, still beta though. So he understood more of where she was coming from. 

“Dom’s going to have lunch ready pretty soon. Every Sunday we do barbeque and there are a ton of sides to pick from. Sauce gets everywhere, I found some in my ear once even. Usually it’s out back in the smoker but we got to do it inside today because, well, rain. But if you want to stay longer I think you’d really like the full Sunday experience.” Another nod, was she nodding too much? No one was irritated yet with her silence, and she hadn’t taken a hit in 24 hours which was a record in itself.

“Do you mind if I draw out some designs with you while I wait?” 

“Okay, y-yeah.” He gave a toothy smile and ran upstairs to grab his notebook.

\--------------  
“Jesse’s talking her ear off in there.” Leon leaned against the counter and took a swig out of his beer as Brian mashed some potatoes. His hands were clean but there was a little grime on his face that Leon found amusing and so didn’t point out. 

“She settle around him?”

“Yeah, motor-mouth’s got the magic touch. What’s the plan for tomorrow?”

“Garage and market, she can come along if she wants. If she decides to stay then Letty can hang back.”

“Is the spare room almost finished?”

“Mia’s putting some clothes in the dresser now, it’s the cleanest it’s ever been since I moved in here.”

“That’s an accomplishment.”

“Well there was no need to keep it nice for Hector’s goons.”

“Meh, they weren’t all bad.”

“Did Brian give you the scent talk?” Dom asked after pulling the chicken out of the oven.

“Yeah, he passed it on to everyone. Shit’s crazy, I never knew that it could happen.”

“It’s more common than most people realize, just not talked about and definitely doesn’t go on  
for as long as it has with her. Less than a day at most.”

“We should get it checked out by a doctor.”

Brian shook his head, “She probably doesn’t realize that there’s anything wrong.”

“How the hell could she not?”

“She got used to it, it’s not like you can’t smell anything, it’s just extremely dulled. Like anything, it would seem normal after a while.”

“Everyone’s going to be in here soon, let’s put a pin in it and get this all on the table.”

“Looks like we’re right on time.” The rest of the pack, plus Cara, walked in.

“Yes you are, who’s saying grace tonight?”

“Letty technically got in here last.” 

Letty gave Leon a fake glare, “And I thought you had my back.”

Mia sat in her usual spot, subtly pulling out the chair for Cara who readily sat next to her. Routine was good, routine she could follow. Letty mumbled a quick prayer in Spanish, which Cara didn’t understand, and the group began passing out plates. Vince, once again, took Cara’s and put an assortment on it, placing it back in front of her as quickly as possible when he saw the disappointment in her eyes. Clearly, despite that morning’s talk with Dom and them having done this for her before she was having a hard time getting out of old beliefs.

It was a late lunch, and from her position she could see a tinge to the sky signalling the change from afternoon to early evening. Despite the chill outside the house was warm and conversation was light and peaceful. Cara eased off a little, if for no other reason than to look normal in front of everyone. She wasn’t sure why they had offered her to crash with them, she hadn’t exactly made a good first impression what with the nightmares and silence and general awkwardness that she didn’t know how to shake off.

“Is purple your favorite color?” Cara snapped her head up from her plate to see Jesse looking at her with a mouth full of potatoes. “I think it is because your backpack’s purple but I don’t know for sure.”

“Y-yeah.” 

“Ew Jesse, close your mouth man.” Letty tossed a napkin at him.

Laughter erupted from the table and Cara felt the last of the tension seep out of her. The rest of the meal passed in much the same way, joking, poor table manners, and light threats from Dom about PDA. Cara helped clear the table and pass the dishes to Leon whose turn it was to load them into the washer, before following Dom back into the family room for  
another movie, something that seemed like a nightly tradition. Unsure of where to sit she looked to Dom, was it still okay for her to take the recliner? He smiled at her gently and told her anywhere would be fine, but Leon would probably sprawl all over the floor like a child. Not wanting to encroach on his future space, she gingerly sat back on the chair and waited.

“A lot of nights we go out racing,” Vince explained, “but not when the weather’s shit or on Sundays. This is probably the most time we’ve taken off from it in a year. Hey, Leon! You ready bro?”

“Just pick something, I’ll be there in a second! Not trash though, I already gave Cara the lowdown on what counts as a decent movie.” He called from the other room.

“God bless you for sitting through that.” Vince told her seriously, grabbing “Alien” and popping it in. 

Leon chose that moment to enter the room with a glass of water and turned off the lights. Just like Dom said he laid on the floor in front of the Tv like a kid, head in his hands and everything. She felt soft fabric graze her hand and looked to her right to see Dom nonchalantly holding out a thick blanket. Gratefully, she took it and curled up like the previous night, even if she took a hit for being out of line, this would be worth it.

Even though the movie was one of his favorites, Dom’s attention was focused mainly on Cara. About a quarter of the way into the film she had fully immersed herself and was bundled up tight and cosy again. His inner alpha rumbled with satisfaction as he recognized the burrowing behavior, although it was unlikely that she even realized what she was doing. Subs didn’t usually express particular tendencies unless with their pack or in a known, safe, environment. But the kid was so sub-starved that she probably couldn’t help herself in her half-asleep state. He hoped that Mia had planned for this and added extra blankets onto her bed, just in case. 

Vince nudged him and raised his eyebrows, apparently he wasn’t the only one who noticed. He gave Dom a smirk, scent radiating smug satisfaction, undoubtedly towards the pack’s accomplishment of creating a good environment for the young pup. Dom gave back a smirk of his own and leaned back in his chair, he didn’t want to get ahead of himself, but he couldn't help hoping that someday Cara would burrow amidst the pack, no just lay under a blanket on the edge by herself.

Eventually, the movie ended and Dom called it a night because they all had to work in the morning. Leon nudged Jesse awake, he had been sleeping with his head at an odd angle on the arm of the couch and had drool on his chin. Letty pulled Leon off the floor and Brian and Mia began up the stairs. 

Dom stood quietly and leaned towards Cara, “Cara, wake up a bit. Easy, easy there. Just want to show you to the spare room so you can sleep, okay?” Startled and fuzzy, she just blinked at him for a second before registering that he wanted her to do something, it wasn’t an order but it was close enough to one. Her scent spiked dread and he jumped in to calm her. “You’re good hun, the armchair isn’t the most comfortable is all.” She stood, pulling the blanket around her as a reflex and waited for him to lead her, completely quiet and obedient. He stopped and subtly motioned for Vince to do the same. “Just sleep Cara, we don’t need anything from you. And the door locks from the inside, just in case you want it.” She flushed and nodded, following Dom and Vince as they started walking again.

“Here we are, make yourself at home.” He pushed open her door a crack and then stepped aside so as to not make her feel trapped. She paused, entering the room with thinly veiled surprise. It was an actual room, not a kennel or a closet or the floor of a hallway where she usually had to crash. Did the alpha really expect her to believe that he didn’t want anything in return? Maybe he wanted to take her by surprise, maybe this was all a game. 

Dom could smell the doubt, fear, and uncertainty that was now flooding off of her in waves, permeating the basement and probably the rest of the house. Somehow, he had fucked up, but it was just a room, a normal room. Despite his alpha roaring to soothe her he gave her a final smile, “Night, kid. Just let one of us know if you need anything, okay? Bathroom is just down the hall.” He gently closed the door, leaving it open a little so she wouldn’t feel shut-in and crossed the hall into Vince’s room and shut the door to his so that Cara wouldn’t hear the coming conversation. The dominant beta stood red-faced with the effort to not burst in on Cara and wrap her in blankets, or hug her, something.

“We told her-”

“We did, but something really fucked up happened to her Vince. She doesn’t believe this yet, it’s only been a day, calm down brother.” Dom put his hand on Vince’s shoulders in comfort.

“Dom,” Vince started

“What do you need?”

Vince clenched his eyes shut and turned his head away, silently asking for something he felt too vulnerable to verbalize, fucking tough-guy persona. Dom carefully leaned into him and nosed his bond bite once, twice, three times, before gathering the man into a hug. 

“Okay?” He asked.

“Yeah,” Vince’s voice was husky, “yeah, I’m good.” Dom pulled away.

“Get some rest, it won't do any good to stay up all night and keep watch for something that won’t happen.” Dom turned and walked softly down the short hallway and up the stairs, bracing himself to address the rest of the pack’s concerns upon his arrival to the second floor. Fortunately, the group seemed to have some level of understanding of what happened, he only had to nod to Mia that everything was good before he made it to his room and promptly passed out.

\--------------  
She was tired, and cold, and emotionally drained, all she wanted to do was curl into the pile of blankets on her bed and pass out for a hundred years. But that wouldn’t end well, she needed to be ready for when someone came. The door did have a lock on it, but if they came and couldn’t get in she’d have to answer for it worse in the morning, she knew the drill. 

So she sat, she sat for a long time yet nothing happened. The lights in the hall and in Vince’s room were off and the house dead silent. The promises made earlier floated in and out of her head, but why should this place be any different? As the night wore on she felt her resolve continue dropping, what difference would it really matter if she were awake or asleep? Either way she wouldn’t be able to stop them from taking what they want. Finally, she slid underneath the covers and clumsily pulled the throw blankets on top. Nice and cosy, she willed herself to sleep, if only for a little while.


	3. Day 3- Fear

Vince woke to the acrid scent of pure fear, pushing himself up he knew that it could only be coming from one place, the room across the hall. He quickly got out of bed and flung open his door but paused when he smelled Dom and Brian coming down to the basement. 

“What happened?” Even in the dark Vince could tell that Dom’s eyes were completely dilated, his alpha roaring at perceived danger.

“Nightmare,” Brian whispered, “she smells confused. May not be a good idea to go in there uninvited Dom.”

“I know,” Despite his instincts Dom was still in full control. Entering her room while she was panicking, especially with the earlier fears she had, would only make her feel like her space was violated. The door was still open a crack, he pushed it open a bit more.

“Cara? You alright?” The screaming had stopped before they got down the stairs but the scent of fear was not diminishing which indicated continued distress. “It’s okay pup, I won’t come in, I just wanted to check on you, sounded like you had a pretty bad nightmare.” They could hear her breath come out in shudders but no response. Dom dared to peek through the slight opening and saw her shadowed figure huddled on the bed, it made his heart ache. 

“If she’s having trouble scenting it’s going to be even harder to reassure her. She’s running on past experiences with her old pack and who knows how many months on the streets.”

“What time is it?” Dom asked

“Almost 5.” Vince looked at his alarm clock.

“We would have had to be up soon anyways, I’m not going back to bed and leave her.”

“Our presence might be making it worse Bri, let’s start a pot of coffee and let her come up in her own time. Everyone else will be up in an hour and we can keep a consistent routine for her.”

“So we leave the pup alone in a dark room stinking of fear?” Vince retorted.  
“We give her space to calm down so we don’t make it worse. We’re not leaving her, we’ll be right upstairs, she’ll be able to hear us. C’mon, and no loud noises.” Vince begrudgingly followed his alpha, Brian looked back at him with tired eyes.

“She sounds like you did.” Vince told him, not unkindly.  
“Hers was worse than mine.” Brian shook his head

“You don’t know that.”

“I do, doesn’t mean my shit didn’t happen Vince. But I’ve seen enough bad shit when I was working for the feds to know this is on another level.” Brian never talked about his time as a cop, the pack had moved past it but it made Brian feel guilty to talk about. Sometimes they forgot just how much he really knew.

“Coffee, we’ll need a shit ton of coffee.”

“And some sugar, I’ll make waffles with syrup for breakfast, let me check on Mia first though.” Brian turned and walked to the stairs.

“He’s a good guy.” Vince commented softly.

“He is.”

“Don’t tell him I said this, but I knew he was decent the second I got a whif of him. Even after that shit happened with the truckers, I couldn’t hate him.”

“Me neither, he was always meant to be here, circumstance just got in the way for a bit.”

“What if she doesn’t leave her room?” Vince accepted a cup from Dom as he returned to the table with the finished pot. Dom took his time to answer, absently tracing the rim of his glass with his thumb as he stared out the kitchen window. 

“We don’t do anything,” he spoke, “we promised her she could stay to herself, as painful as it is we can’t back out on that. Brian said earlier that she needs to see proof of safety through actions, this is one of those times when we can prove that she can trust us.” Light steps came down the stairs, it was Brian with a stuffed rabbit in his hand.

“New bedtime snuggle-buddy Buster?” Vince ribbed.

“Jesse said to put this outside her door, don’t ask me why, he was half asleep and probably still dreaming.” He passed it to Dom, “It should come from you, trust with the pack leader will trickle down to trust with the rest of us.”

“The only time trickle-down works, fucking capitalism” Vince muttered.

Solemnly, Dom took the rabbit and nodded, he did his best to walk down the basement steps without making them creak under his weight. Risking another peek through the crack in her door he could see that she was in the same position, except now she was wrapped in several blankets. It was progress, at least. He didn’t announce himself, just left the stuffed animal outside her door, patting it’s head a bit in a probably futile effort to rub more of his scent on it, his scent may soothe her subconscious, at least. Making his way back to the kitchen he saw the rest of his pack assembled, Brian drinking coffee and pouring waffle mix into a bowl, Jesse had a bad case of bedhead and was pouring creamer into his coffee, Leon looking at him in disbelief at the early morning sugar intake. Letty sat cross-legged on the chair next to Vince, yawning and leaning her head on his shoulder. Mia greeted him with a kiss to his cheek. 

“It was a good idea to give her space.”

“I know, I don’t like it, but I get it.”

“Dude, no syrup on your pancakes, you won’t be able to chill at all today if you keep this up.” Dom could hear Leon speaking to Jesse.

“I’m a grown man, dude!”

“Barely.” Vince snorted

“Piss off, just because I don’t look like I benchpress oil drums everyday-”

“Jesse, did you take your meds?” Dom interrupted.

“Um,” Jesse thought for a second, “no?”

“No.” Leon agreed.

“Have some stimulants with your sugar.” Vince snorted.

“Haha, very funny, dickwad.”  
\--------------  
Cara didn’t know what was worse, waking up from a night terror feeling as though a two-ton brick was on her chest, or hearing Dom outside her door. A shudder ripped through her, this was it, she knew it was coming, so why did it hurt so much? She heard low murmuring in the hall outside her room, Vince was probably awake as well, and Brian too it sounded like. Sneaking a glance at the alarm clock next to her bed she saw that it was just past 5, maybe they woke up for work? She hoped that was the case, not wanting to have awoken the entire house with her screaming. 

“-you okay?” She heard through the door. No, no she was most definitely not okay. She wanted to be alone, just a little time to push the memories back into the dark corners of her mind. But, at the same time she desperately craved a hug. Some kind of comfort, any reassurance that she wasn’t back there anymore. No one came in, she was alone here, safe, but alone. She had to give them that, they actually kept a promise. It was a start, she supposed. She was cold and risked moving to wrap a few blankets around herself. They were soft and had different textures, providing a slight distraction from the dark room around her. Eventually, she heard the trio walking away and up the stairs, effectively leaving her to come out on her own, an allowance she was grateful for. How she would face them, Cara didn’t know. She had the feeling that she wasn’t the only one with some baggage here, but she was a guest and was not being a very good one. Allowing herself a few more minutes of relative peace, she unwrapped herself from the blankets and walked to the door to face the music.

\--------------------  
It was an effort for the pack to keep the conversation light once they heard the hesitant patter of feet come up the basement steps. Brain was at the counter pouring waffle mix into a bowl, casting a quick glance over his shoulder to Dom and raised his eyebrows in surprise and relief. Honestly, they were surprised that she wasn’t making an effort to bolt. His heart sank a bit when she came in, dressed in Mia’s too-large sweatpants and sweatshirt with a beanie down low on her head. She looked rougher than the day before even, hands clasping at her backpack straps that she had carried around the day before. He didn’t think this signaled her leaving and recognized it as a protective behavior towards her only possessions.

“Morning pup,” Dome greeted, the endearment intentional, “grab a seat! Brian’s making waffles.” Cara obeyed and took her now-usual place at the table while giving darting glances to the rest of the group, tension visibly leaving her as they carried on like nothing had happened during the night. She wasn’t deluded enough to believe that they hadn’t all heard her screams or smelled her fear scent. 

What was the most surprising about this embarrassing situation was the pack not giving her a beat down over filling their home, their den, with such an acrid stench. She hadn’t smelled hers in a long time, the only reason she knew that she still gave off scents was her pack’s reaction. Hesitation at least got you a couple of bruised ribs, sadness warranted a black eye, and fear, well, there’s a reason she has so many scars.

“Pup?” A voice asked quietly, she snapped her head up to look at Vince, concern written all over his face. “We lost you for a minute there, just wanted to give you a plate.” He gingerly set her breakfast down in front of her but the movement still made her flinch.

Dom debated offering her coffee, she appeared to be one wrong move away from a panic attack or a drop. He could get her through the panic, but was terrified to think of what would happen if she dropped. The pup was nowhere near comfortable enough with him to respond well to him guiding her down, and a drop without an alpha could be dangerous, especially in her physical state.

Making a decision, possibly the stupidest one of his life, he gave the rest of the group a look to stay where they were and gave Cara a light order, “C’mon kid, let’s step out to the other room for just a sec, okay?” Resignation came off of her in waves but she dutifully stood and stiffly walked towards him, allowing Dom to lead her out to the family room and sit her on the couch. He kneeled down on her right so as to not block her sightline of the door and spoke to her as if she were a beaten dog.

“You’re not in trouble, pup, but I can smell that you’re really, really scared and I want to help you calm down. It’s been a hell of a ride for you, huh?” She remained unresponsive but no closer to a drop.

“I want to try and help you calm down, you don’t trust me yet, and that’s understandable, but will you give me a shot? Just this once? I promise I’m not going to hurt you.” He waited a minute, two, five, before Cara gave a barely perceptible nod.

“Thank you kid, alright first things first, I think you’re having trouble picking up scents so I want you to take a couple deep breaths for me, in and out. Yeah, just like that. Good pup.” The last two words made her shiver, but not in a bad way.

“Can I touch you?” She straightened and lost control of her breathing at that, Dom had a good idea why and he was briefly overcome with the urge to break every goddamn thing in the room. Taking a few quick but calming breaths, he started again. “One hand on your knee, the other on your back between your shoulder, nowhere else. I won’t touch your nape.” Slowly telegraphing his movements, he placed a light hand on her back, feeling the tense muscles and bones underneath. “Okay, real good kid, the other on your knee for grounding.” She allowed him to continue and in another few beats he was having the most physical contact with her since they met. Gently, he applied just a bit more pressure to her back and slowly rubbed the space between her shoulders, providing what was, hopefully, warm and soothing sensations. He didn’t dare to move the hand on her knee, keeping it in place to ground her.

The kid gave out a raspy breath, eyes glazing over with tears and Dom didn’t know if they were out of relief or dread of what she was trained to believe would come next.

“I used to do this with Jesse,” he started quietly, “he was skittish as hell for a good six months when he started working for me. It wasn’t until he hit a breaking point and Leon wasn’t there that he let go a bit.” Her ears twitched like she was listening but otherwise he got no response. “To be honest I was scared the whole time,” that drew the barest eyebrow raise from her, “you see, trust has to be earned, and that was a situation where I had to run on instinct not knowing exactly what he needed. I was worried I’d fuck it up and he’d leave, get out of town and not look back. I knew for a while before that he was meant to be pack, it was always there as part of his base-scent.” He hoped that she would pick up on the subtle clues he was dropping but it was impossible to tell with the poker-face she had going on. “We got through it though, and it got easier for him after. Still had to work through some things together, but he’s here with us now and we couldn’t be happier for it.”

As his speech went on, she had slowly slumped down until her head was bowed and hands just a tad less clenched. Emboldened by the response and lessening of her fear-scent, he applied a bit more pressure to the small circles he was rubbing on her back. 

“How you feeling? You don’t need to talk if you don’t want to, but I’d really appreciate it if you could even just shake your head yes or no.” She nodded slowly, indicating she felt a bit better. “That’s good kid, that’s real good. Do you want to stay here today or go to the garage with me and the guys, or the market with Mia and Letty?” She shook her head rapidly. “No choices?” She nodded, yes, no choices right now please, not when she was so on edge about picking the wrong one. “Okay, I don’t think it would be good for you to be alone right now. The garage has a back room with a couch, if you need space you can hang out in there with your sketchbook or take a nap. Jesse will be there too, I know he’d be more than happy to get your opinion on designs. Is that okay?” 

Actually, yes. It wasn’t exactly what she wanted, which was to sleep for a thousand years, but it was the best one available to her. Staying here alone sounded pretty good, but honestly she was more terrified at being away from the temporary protection the pack was proving then going outside with them.

“Everyone here gets a part of where you’re coming from, they understand how hard this is so don’t worry about hiding from us. When you’re ready, we can go back to the kitchen, they won’t say anything, and you can eat some breakfast and have coffee if you want it. Good deal?” She nodded, good deal. Despite her better judgement, Cara found herself dreading the feel of Dom removing his hand. It was more grounding then she thought it would be and radiated warmth. Still, she couldn’t be too needy so she nodded that she was ready to return. 

They stood together, Dom letting go of her knee and removing his hand from her back, then, suddenly smelling the slightest tinge of disappointment, interesting. He smoothly returned his hand to the space between her shoulders and began guiding her back to the kitchen, feeling a fraction of her tensions disappear.

\------------

True to his word the others didn’t say anything after she returned to breakfast, just giving her sympathetic smiles and Vince put an extra waffle on her plate with a determined look on his face. She managed half and two cups of coffee, hoping that the caffeine would help her snap out of whatever the hell kind of freakout she just experienced. Jesse was twitching next to her like he wanted to say something, then checked his phone and stilled a bit. Cara had a suspicion Dom had somehow updated them about the situation.

And he had, subtly shooting off a brief rundown of today’s plan and informed the guys to be on the look out for another zoning episode. They had about five minor jobs to do at the shop, a light load for the four men that would be handling it, but Dom anticipated they’d pick up on business today after the weather no doubt fucked over some cars. He was glad that the pup agreed to go with him to the garage, not being able to deny his protectiveness towards her had dramatically increased since the interaction in the living room. 

When everyone finished eating they began grabbing their gear and prepared to part ways, each one opting to take their own cars. Mia looked at Cara before heading upstairs to change herself, “There’s some spare clothes in the dresser in you’re-the spare room,” she caught herself, “they’ll be big but I promise that they’re clean.”

“I’ll walk you down,” Vince spoke up, “I forgot to pack my damn bag last night.”

Cara followed him down to the basement, he gave a quick glance into her room and saw the stuffed bunny sitting on her bed, well, it appeared that Jesse had some good ideas every once in a while. He’d have to question him later about why a stuffed rabbit would be helpful, but he wasn’t going to give him shit about it. 

She slipped into the spare room and closed the door, silently but firmly. Vince grabbed his bag (already packed, he just needed an excuse to keep her in his sight, Dom wasn’t the only one with instincts roaring up) and waited awkwardly for her to come out. A minute later she did, dressed in baggy jeans that had to be cuffed several times and held up with a belt, and a long sleeve black shirt. She had kept the beanie on and had also tightened the straps to her backpack. 

“Got everything?” She nodded, not looking at him, “It’s still cold out, your jacket’s still dirty, right?” another tentative nod.

“Wait one second,” he disappeared back into his room for a minute and came back with an old sweatshirt of his, it was from years ago and he only kept it because it (once held) sentimental value, but it would still swallow the kid. “Here,” he handed it to her “just in case.” He held it out at arms length to avoid touching her and she gingerly took it.

“Thanks.” It came out as a whisper, but a satisfied grin spread over his face anyway.

“One more thing,” he started, and then quickly continued when she took a subtle step away from him, “if you need anything at all today, or someone starts messing with you, come get me, or Dom, or any one of the guys. You’re under us now, no one gets to fuck with you, cool?”

Yes, she was cool with that. Surprised at the sincereness around it but nonetheless relieved. An almost-order and a promise, something she could easily follow and would guarantee her protection. She gave a firm nod, the most confident response to him all day. 

Vince gave a serious nod in return, “Alright, let’s get going. Wait, hey,” she stopped walking, “you can say no to this, but are you cool with contact? I’m only asking because Jesse might get over excited at you being there and he usually nudges people to get their attention.” She looked at him curiously, though he didn’t know why, and shrugged.  
“He’ll listen if you tell him to back off, though he’s got more brain cells than most of us combined and will figure it out himself.” Was that a smile fighting it’s way onto her face? Trying not to look smug at their progress, he once again began walking up the steps, Cara just a few steps behind. 

“Everyone ready?” Dom called.

“Coming!” Brian called, running down the stairs from the second floor.

“Kid, you okay riding with me today?” The alpha addressed Cara, who gave an affirmative nod. “Alright then, see you all there.” Cara trailed behind Dom and he led her to his charger, gleaming from the rain, and opened the passenger door for her. She gave one of those submissive nods again and slipped in, trying not to step too much on the mat and dirty it.

“Alright,” Dom got in and shut the door, “let’s get going. And here,” he handed her a paper bag, “Mia packed you some snacks. She said to eat at least two, doesn’t want to risk the wind blowing you over.” Cara peaked inside and saw some granola bars, fruit snacks, and a couple bags of pretzels. “I warned you that she was a mother-hen, always has been and probably always will be.” He shot her a grin. 

Dom drove more carefully than he usually would have, and not just because of the still-slick streets. The pup’s face was almost plastered to the window, taking in the scenery on the route to the shop. It wasn’t that pretty or interesting, but she seemed fascinated.

“You ever go for a drive with your old pack?” He asked nonchalantly.

Cara didn’t respond for a while, her scent considering the pros and cons of giving any information out. Eventually she must have decided that this was a safe enough question to give him a straight answer, “No, I never went anywhere.”

He coughed a bit, “Not anywhere?” She shook her head and pressed her lips together, done talking.

The tense silence was broken a few minutes later when they arrived at the garage, Vince and Brian were already there opening the doors. He parked out back and got her through the side entrance into the open space, the other two men calling out hellos.

“That’s the office, I’ll be in and out of there over the day. This door right here,” he led her to the far back wall, “is where Jesse works on his designs, a little cramped but it works. The back room is right here next door, feel free to crash or take a nap there if you need to. We usually order out for lunch around noon and we close shop at 4. If you need anything, even just to talk, you come get one of us, okay? It’s no bother.” She nodded in understanding, appreciating the structure he was providing. 

Jesse and Leon finally walked in, Leon’s face brightened and he gave her a cheery wave which she returned, albeit with less enthusiasm but just as much sincerity. Jesse loped towards her.

“Want to see my digs? I got an extra chair and everything.” Cara looked at Dom one last time, probably for permission, and he gave her a small smile and nodded. She disappeared into the tech-room with Jesse, appearing more at ease than he thought she would be. 

“Care to elaborate more about what happened in the living room?” Leon questioned when Dom made his way over to the three men and handed out order sheets. 

“She looked like she was about to drop, walked her through it like that time with Jesse and she calmed down okay.” Leon gave him a look of understanding but Brian raised an eyebrow curiously.

“I never heard that story.”

“Jesse got himself worked up like the pup did about six months of him being here. Leon was out and I had to help him calm down. He responded good, tapped into his base instincts without getting too personal. The kid responded about the same way.” Brian took the hint and dropped the subject.

“You think she’s still in danger of dropping?”

“Not sure, she seems steady enough, but I’d tread lightly. Alright, enough chit-chat, let’s get to work.”

\------------

Jesse’s “digs” were surprisingly quiet, despite the hum of his computers it was well-insulated from the racket outside. He eagerly opened up his newest project and walked her through it detail by detail.

“I ruled out yellow, orange, blue, black, and red. I think A deep maroon would go good, dark enough to be a little inconspicuous but enough flair to add some class, what do you think?”

She studied the design, taking into account the contours of the car and the personality of the build. She definitely had an opinion, but it wasn’t her place. This was Jesse’s work, not hers.

He could smell her hesitance and decided to make it easier on her, “C’mon Cara, I’m really stuck here! I need all the help I can get, honestly.”

“Li-little lighter.” She murmured.

“Like this?” He lightened the maroon just a tad.  
“Undertone of dark silver.”

Careful to keep the skepticism off of his face, he made the change. And, wow, yeah that looked fucking rad. 

“Well shit, that’s perfect! Adds a good shadow to the contours and the depth works perfectly for the body. What made you think of that?” She shrugged, looking down. “No seriously, are you some color genius or something? 

Cara tapped her pencil on her jeans, hesitating before answering, “Personality.”

“Personality?”

“T-the car, it h-has a per-personality.”

Jesse looked at her like he was just seeing her. And in a way he was, this was a glimpse into how her mind worked, how she perceived what was around her. Finally, he gave her a mega-watt smile.

“Yeah, yeah it does.”

\------------

The day passed uneventful, Cara stayed with Jesse the entire day besides the times she slipped out to use the bathroom. She made sure to have two snacks, offering the rest to Jesse who gladly ate with her. She was being good, she was following all expectations. 

Dom poked his head in every now and again with multiple excuses; what did they want for lunch? Was Cara tired? Was it too cold in here? At the last inquiry Cara realized that yes, it was very cold and she was even shaking a bit, not having noticed for being so caught up in the work. Dom looked at her with soft knowing and she blushed, pulling on Vince’s borrowed jacket. Jesse declined to say anything but internally rolled his eyes at Vince’s not-so-subtle demonstration of protection. Cara couldn’t smell it, but the hoodie was absolutely covered in Vince’s scent, his dominant nature present enough in it that no strange alpha would dare touch her. It actually wasn’t a bad idea, he had to admit, it would definitely add an extra barrier of safety when they were out in public. 

Dom had rolled his eyes at Vince when he returned to changing the oil on a Toyota. “She put the hoodie on.”

“Good.” He grumbled, head bent over the hood of a Honda Civic.

“You’re just as bad as Brian.”

“Hey!” Said man called with mock-insult.

“That’s a low blow brother.” Vince retorted.

“It’s not if it’s true. How we doing on time?”

“About another hour.” Brian surmised, “should still be done around four. You give her the time schedule?” 

“Yeah, let’s try to keep to it as much as possible.”

“Consistency,” Leon noted, “can work wonders.”

Later, Dom gave a quiet knock on the tech-room’s door and announced that they were ready to leave. Cara promptly gathered her things and stood, having kept watch of the time and not wanting to hold them up. Jesse was a little more relaxed, partially because of his nature and partially because he wanted to show Cara that it was okay to relax a bit. 

“I need to back up the computer in the office and close the gates, do you want to wait or ride home with Vince?” Dom offered her the choice. 

She was torn, wanting to stay with Dom but not wanting to get in his way, she was saved from the decision by Vince calling over to her, “My car’s cooler than Dom’s!”

“Those are bold words, Vince.” Dom shot back.

“Not if they’re true.” He gave Dom a shit-eating grin, “It’s okay pup, I promise to drive safe.”

“Like a grandma.” Dom warned.

Vince gave a mock salute and gestured to Cara who walked to his side, looking over her shoulder at the alpha. 

“See you at home kid, I’m right behind you.”

Vince walked her to his car, she silently admired the color scheme and noted that it matched the driver’s personality exactly.

“Did you have fun with Jesse?” She nodded, a bit more enthusiastically than she originally intended to. But she had a really great time with him, his constant chatter soothing her nerves and giving her a distraction from the memories of this morning.

Feeling bold, but not knowing why, she took a breath and steadied herself, “Yo-your tattoos ma-atch your car.”

Vince went still out of surprise, that was a full fucking sentence. “They do?”  
“Colors. Vibes.” She muttered.

Vince looked at his arm, getting perspective to what she was saying. Noticing for the first time how the lines went with the contours of his car and the colors complimented it as well. “I never noticed before, but yeah, you’re right.” He gave her a grin, “Least I have good taste.” He joked. She gave a small smile at the window.

He considered the reason to her sudden openness and came to the conclusion that it was a mixture of a day out of the house and her wearing his scent-soaked jacket. Even if her nose wasn’t picking it up, her hindbrain was and was now seeing him as a familiar and associating him with warmth. Fucking perfect, he got one up on Dom!

“Normally I’d get us home in less than 10, but Dom would be pissed if I drove stupid.” Still looking out the window, her face contorted into a confused expression. “He cares about you pup, believe it or not we all do.”

“Why-” she started and stopped.

“Go on.” He said quietly, looking at the road in front of him instead of her.

“Why do you call me pup?”

“Would you prefer we didn’t?” He asked lightly, knowing that the question could be taken as a threat. 

She shook her head, “I-I-I.”

“Because you’re the youngest, you're a pup.” He smiled, “And we like you well enough to give you a nickname.” He explained. 

She nodded but didn’t speak for the rest of the ride.

When they got home Jesse was sprawled on the couch, apparently napping, and someone was in the shower upstairs. Mia bounded down the stairs to greet them.

“How was your day? Did you have a good time?” She looked so hopeful, and Cara couldn’t help but feel like a little kid being asked about their first day of school. She nodded, uncertain of what else to do or where to go from here. 

“Brian’s picking up dinner, I called and asked him to. I think he’s getting burgers. Cara, do you want to help me make a salad to go with it?” the girl nodded, yes, something to fill the time and be useful.

Vince strolled over to the couch and poked Jesse in the ribs, he blinked up blearily at him. “Good job today, she had fun.” Jesse gave him a sleepy smile and Vince allowed him to go back to dozing. When Dom walked in a moment later, he greeted him.

“Kid asked me why we call her pup.” He spoke quietly.

Dom raised an eyebrow, “and what did you tell her?”

“That we like her, and she is one. I didn’t spill about the pack part of it.”

“Didn’t think you did, Vince. Just surprised she actually asked a question.”

“Think her hindbrain is picking up on my scent and getting used to it. I think you should try it too.”

“You mean your jacket?”

Vince shrugged, “Only thing I could think of. And it can’t hurt. Give her an old shirt of yours for a pajama shirt, or another blanket that you used, you’re the alpha Dom, she’ll be able to smell you first.” Fuck if that didn’t make the leader’s chest puff up.

Dom grabbed Vince’s head and gave a familial kiss to the top of it, patting his shoulder he gave him a nod, “You’re smarter than you look. Where is she now?” 

“In the kitchen with Mia.” 

“Good, I’ll grab a shower and get some things for her.”

“I think Leon just got out.”

“Thanks, I’ll see you in a bit.”

Dom went upstairs and looked around his room. There was a random throw blanket that had made his way up here from downstairs at some point, an old throw pillow in his closet, and some spare shirts that hadn’t been worn in a while. He considered whether giving them all to her would be too much, and if it was would it be enough to trigger a negative reaction? He supposed not, they were basic items, nothing fancy, and it was only polite that a house guest have accommodations. 

The second consideration was if her hindbrain reacted negatively to his scent. Vince was beta and therefore more neutral, Dom wasn’t sure of her past experiences with betas but it was probably better than any alpha she had come across. Even though her nose wouldn’t pick it up, yet, subconsciously it could trigger fear and the last thing they needed was another nightmare or almost-drop. 

Then again, Vince was second in command and closer on the scale to dominant than the others which indicated that despite his rank she had some amount of reassurance that he wouldn’t hurt her. 

It was a risk, but one worth taking. Maybe they were pushing this too fast, under any other circumstances he would take the same pace as with the others, but it was obvious that she was on the run and probably had people looking for her. On top of that she was a sub and a minor, both of those good enough reasons for the cops to throw her back to her old pack if they caught wind of what was going on. This made him pause, he’d known the risks when he offered her a place here, but her continued refusal to communicate what exactly happened to her posed a problem. They at least had to know what they were dealing with, but pushing her too hard would make her bolt this early on. So they had to stay clear of the pigs for now, which meant no trouble, no fights, and especially no racing. They’d been good about not drawing too much attention to themselves, but the worst that would have happened was a little harassment and dirty looks, the stakes were a lot higher now. Not that the entire pack wouldn’t up and flee the country if they had to, but it was possible to avoid it getting that far. 

Dom snagged two of the shirts, one black and one grey, the throw blanket and pillow and laid them on the bed. He picked each one of them up and rubbed them against his neck one by one. He decided to do this before his shower so as to not have any foreign odors attached to them. Once satisfied that they were completely covered, he went to the ensuite and ran the shower to wash the day away.

\-------------

“Food’s up!” Brian called, setting the take-out bags on the kitchen table. Cara brought over a bowl of salad and he grimaced. 

“Miaaaaaaa.” He moaned.

“Yes dear?” She deadpanned.

“There’s already plenty of lettuce on my burger. And fried count as a vegetable.”

“They do not, and don’t you want to live long enough to get old and wrinkly with me?” She mock-pouted. He huffed and planted a kiss on her cheek.

“NOS?”

“No, Brian. Vince told me you have four cans today.”

“Fucking traitor.” Brian mumbled, but winked at Cara to show that he was kidding. Swear to god he thought she almost giggled. His scent filled with glee and satisfaction, one point for Brian, then.

“Thank you for helping, Cara.” Mia smiled, “I’m glad that you seem to appreciate vegetables.” Cara didn’t comment that she appreciated any food they would give her. They could keep her downstairs with a sleeve of crackers and she’d have been ecstatic.

“Which one’s mine?” Leon asked.

Brian handed him a bag, “No pickles.”

“Finally someone remembered.”

“This one’s yours pup, I wasn’t sure what you liked so I got you the same as me.”

“Thank you.” She took the bag, surprised by the weight.

“Of course. Mia, we’re eating in the living room?”

“Might as well, I don’t feel like getting dishes dirty.”

“Was the shop busy?”

“Oh yeah, everyone was out of stuff because of the storm.”

“We got five new jobs come in today too, a lot of fender benders.”

“Figures. Here, pup, make yourself comfortable in the living room. Can you bring Jesse his bag too? You might have to poke him to wake him up.” Cara nodded dutifully and disappeared around the corner.

Mia turned fully to Brian, “She really do okay today?”

“Yeah, spent the whole day with Jesse, no panic at all. Dom poked his head in a few times to make sure, but it went well. I think it’d be good for her to go back again tomorrow.”

“She could also try the market soon.”

“Maybe on one of the days that Dom goes there. She keeps looking to him for direction, it would settle her a lot if it came from him. I think it’d help the bonding process go a lot faster if she was with him as much as possible, let her hindbrain adapt to the pack scent.”

“You’re right, I know. I just miss her during the day.”

“Dom called Vince a mother-hen today.”

Mia frowned, “That’s my job.” 

Brian kissed her nose, “I know.”

Fake gagging sounds came from behind them, Brian turned his head to see Vince by the table. “Well look who it is, Mr. Territorial.” 

“Piss off, Buster.”

Mia raised an eyebrow and Brian explained, “Vince gave Cara his sweatshirt to wear.”

She rolled her eyes, “Of course you did, god you’re almost worse than Dom.”

“Yeah well, she said a full sentence to me in the car so it was a great idea.”

“Really?” 

“Yeah, why, are you jealous?”

“Fuck off, I’ll be her favorite soon enough.”

“Enough banter, please. I’m starving and want to relax with mind-numbing trash TV.”

“I can think of other ways to relax.” Brian mumummerd in her ear.

“Don’t start something you can’t finish, babe.” She whispered back.

“Oh, it’s a promise, don’t you worry.”

By this point Vince was completely done with the romance shit and snagged his burger and fries on the way out of the kitchen. Cara and Jesse were next to each other on the floor, having opted to sit with him so as not to accidentally spill on the armchair. Fair enough, as long as she was comfortable. 

“Alright kids, SNL tonight? Leon won’t throw a conniption fit over that at least.”

“I’m proud of your choice, V.” Leon tossed a fry at him from across the room.

“I’m proud of myself for putting up with you all these years.”

“See what I have to put up with, Cara?”

“What? Undying love and affection?”

“You’re so emotionally constipated that it worries me, you should see a doctor.“

“Who’s constipated?” Letty walked in.  
“Vince’s emotions.” Jesse got out through a mouthful of burger.

“Shuddup all of you, before I lose my appetite.”

Dom came down the stairs, fresh out of the shower and dressed in sweatpants and a long sleeved shirt and throw blanket in hand. He took his usual place on the recliner next to the couch, leaving him directly behind Cara. She didn’t appear to notice the new arrangement which left her in a physically more submissive state. He nonchalantly dropped the blanket next to her and took the proffered bag of food from Brian. Paying close attention to the shifts in scents and body language from his pack, he allowed himself to relax into the armchair and enjoy the show.

\--------------

Cara was lost in thought trying to decide if she liked burgers. This was her first one and it was pretty good, the texture was a little mushy and eating a sandwich that was both hot and cold at the same time was odd, but the flavor was there. Not that she would reject it, the past three days she ate more than she had in three weeks with her old pack.

‘Why am I calling them my old pack?’ She thought, ‘I’m still theirs, I ran but I’m theirs.’ The reminder made her feel sick to her stomach and she put the burger down, unable to take another bite. She flexed her hands in a nervous manner and felt softness brush against her pinky finger, a blanket. It wasn’t there when she sat down, someone must have put it there for her, most likely Dom, the alpha seemed intent on giving her blankets. She wasn’t complaining, they were soothing and warm and rarely had one to herself before. Now she had three on the bed she was sleeping in and there was always one or two nearby wherever she went. No one else had blankets, was this another trick to get her to let down her guard?

‘Stop it. They haven’t done anything to you.’

‘Not yet,’ another voice inside her said, ‘remember what happened the last time you let yourself get comfortable? How well THAT went?’ How could she forget? She hugged alpha once after a week of calm and ended up with injuries so bad she was out cold for a week. She had woken up to blood clotted in her hair, a still-swollen eye, and infected whip marks on her back. It had taken two months to fully recover and she had to do the medical work by herself.

‘They’re different.’

‘You don’t know that.’

‘It feels different here. The hierarchy is different, Mia and Letty and Jesse are allowed to talk, no one has bruises.’

‘Why do you think they invited a sub here?’

Oh, that realization made her stomach drop completely out of her body. Of course, that’s why she was being allowed to stay. Every pack needed an outlet, and she was going to be theirs. No, she couldn’t let that happen. Dom was a lot stronger than her old alpha, and his pack had such obvious loyalty that they wouldn’t hesitate to join in. She was at the bottom, if she stayed her fate would be sealed. They were smarter than her old-her pact, she corrected herself, they would track her down. She needed to leave as soon as possible before they got any more invested in her.

“You okay?” Jesse whispered. She nodded.

‘You know what you need to do.’

Yeah, she knew.


	4. Night 3- Running

She waited for the night to end. She didn’t touch the blanket, eat her food, or move a goddam muscle. Everyone noticed but opted not to say anything, giving her space to work through her thoughts without invading her space. She had even leaned away from Jesse, that was what concerned them the most.

Finally, Leon turned the TV off, the signal for bedtime and everyone started getting up to head to their respective bedrooms. Cara stood as well, gingerly picking up her trash and following Mia to the kitchen to dispose of it.

“You sleep well, okay pup?” Mia gave her a kind smile and fuck if that didn’t break Cara’s heart just a bit more, why did Mia have to act so nice? She nodded and gave a faint smile back before walking down towards the basement, Dom and Vince met her there.

‘This is it.’ She thought.

“Goodnight pup, come get us if you need anything.” Dom gave her a gentle smile and allowed her to pass. She wouldn’t let his supposed kindness affect her, not now when she was so close to leaving. It would be easy for him to break down her resolve, she was weak like that.

“C’mon kid,” Vince gestured down the steps “time to hit the hay. You okay from here?” She nodded and disappeared into the room, locking it behind her and missing the older man’s face of concern.

She waited for an hour, when she was sure that everyone had settled into bed before moving. She changed into her old clothes and folded the borrowed ones neatly, leaving them on the dresser. Her backpack was ready to go, it always had been. She thought for a brief second about taking Vince’s jacket with her, her own was too thin to provide any warmth in 50 degree weather. Ultimately she decided against it, no use giving them one more reason to come at her. Glancing around the room to double-check that she had everything her eyes fell on the stuffed animal she found outside her door just that morning. Picking it up she looked at it closely. It wasn’t new, that she could tell. Maybe it belonged to the former submissive? Unlikely, there was no blood on it. It was probably Jesse’s he was the only one she could think of who would have such an item. She was catching something from it, like a tickle in her nose. Hesitantly, she brought her nose to it, something was there but just out of reach. If she concentrated she could feel her body slowly relax, a broken thing within her creaking into place.

_‘It’s drugged!’_

There had to be something on it, sprayed with pheromones or some sedative to keep her quiet and compliant. Fuck, they were playing dirty. She paced around the room for another half hour, thinking over her escape options. The basement windows were too small and too high up. The back door creaked whenever it was opened and there was another fence she’d have to jump to get out the side yard. The only option was the front door, risky because she had to get past both Vince and the stairs to the second floor. Taking deep breaths to neutralize her scent as much as possible, she quietly turned the lock to her room, Dom probably had a key to it anyway, and tiptoed to the first set of stairs with her shoes in hand. She could put them on when she was a safe enough distance away to stop.

She made it to the first floor without hearing a peep from Vince’s room, a good start. Her socked feet were freezing on the wood floor, and despite herself she let out a slight hiss. Stupid, she was getting soft. She made it as far as the living room before disaster struck, someone’s fucking smelly shoe was next to the banister, she tripped over it and managed to catch herself, but her backpack fell to the ground with a reverberating thud. Instantly, the lights upstairs turned on.

“Shit, shit shit.” She rasped, hiking the bag back up on her shoulders.

“Kid?” Dom called softly down the stairs, faintly illuminated by his bedroom light.

For a second, time seemed to freeze, as cliche as it sounded. She stared up at him and just knew that undiluted _fear_ was coming off of her in waves and would soon bring everyone else down. Her heat beat jackrabbit fast as she willed her muscles to cooperate. Then, the alpha started down the steps, and the spell was broken.

She bolted just as fast as when she left home three months ago, wrenching open the door and practically jumping over the stoop. At some point she had dropped her shoes but that wasn’t important right now.

“Guys!” She heard Dom bellow from behind her, calling his pack to catch the escapee.

She was faster than before, no injuries to impede her. But she was still weak and laden down with the backpack. Still, she persisted, her senses in overdrive and fresh adrenaline pumping through her veins.

“Cara, stop! It’s not safe out here!”

 _‘It’s not safe back there either.’_ At least she had a fighting chance now.

She took a sharp right at the end of the street, trying to get him off her tail, but overcorrected and smashed into the uneven brick wall. It was just a few seconds, but enough for him to catch up to her. Iron bars wrapped around her waist and hauled her up, twisting her so her head was forced into Dom’s neck and blocking the sound of her screams. When had she started screaming?

“What the hell happened?” That was Brian, even he sounded winded.

“I don’t know, she just bulted. Zero to sixty in a second flat. Shh, kid, just calm down, it’s okay.” She tried to bite him, but couldn’t open her mouth, what with how tightly it was pressed against him. She settled for a few weak kicks and pounding her fists against his back, she was really going to be dead now, or chained to a post, or pumped so full of drugs that she wouldn’t be able to remember her own name. They were walking her back to the house, the neighborhood quiet and seemingly oblivious to the commotion.

“Is she hurt?” Came Vince’s gruff voice.

“Knocked into a wall, and she’s barefoot, might have cut up her feet. Put the bat down brother, that’s just going to scare her more.”

“Did she have a nightmare?”

She felt Dom shake his head, “She had her bag with her and everything.” Fuck, her bag! Where was her bag? Screaming again into Dom’s neck she felt herself begin to cry. Harsh sobs that rocked her body and made the arms around her tighten that much more.

“Let’s get her inside, Leo’s crew hangs out this time of night.”

The chill of the outside left her as they entered back into the house. She could sense multiple pairs of eyes on her and it made her kick out more.

“Guys,” Dom spoke softly, “give us some space, she’s okay. Leo didn’t get to her.” Reluctant footsteps could be heard retreating but this brought her little comfort, Dom wanted some alone time with her before the real party started.

They were walking again, down more steps into what was undoubtedly the basement. Dom’s grip eased up enough now that they were farther inside the house that she managed to get some words out.

“Let me go!” She screamed.

“Cara,” Dom spoke quietly, “just take it easy. We’re almost there, here this is your room, can you tell us what happened?” She felt herself be put down and blindly turned to run back out the door, but Vince caught her and held her still.

“We’re not going to hurt you kid, it’s not safe out there. Leo’s gang is rolling through and they’re bad news. You need to calm down, just talk to us.” She squirmed and glared up at him, for the first time showing the fight she had within her.

“Let her go Vince, give her some breathing room.” Vince obeyed and as soon as she was free she ran to the corner and crouched down in a defensive posture, yanking her beanie down more before moving her arms to protect her core.

“Fuck.” Brian ran a hand over his face, unsurprised but heartbroken this was happening.

“Everyone, settle down a bit. Kid, I can smell the fear coming off you. I promise you that whatever you think is going to happen won’t.” She didn’t reply and didn’t move, muscles posed to bolt at the first opportunity.

“Here,” Dom took the stuffed animal off the bed and slowly offered it to her like she was a cornered animal.

“It’s drugged! I don’t need drugs!” She shouted, not a stutter present.

Dom looked genuinely concerned, “It’s just a stuffed rabbit, pup, how could it be drugged?”

“I can smell it!”

“Smell what? C’mon kiddo, you can talk to me. Here, I’ll stay put, just right here, okay?”

“Don’t lie to me!” And with that, she broke. Fifteen years of torture and months living on edge and getting taken advantage of on the streets, and a fucking stuffed animal is what was doing her in. She was fading, submerged in panic so strong that she gagged and dropped from her crouch into a kneeling position, trying to gain control of her breath.

“That’s enough.” Dom stood and moved towards her, breaking the promise he made just moments ago. He was aware of it, but her free-fall into a certain drop would cause more damage.

“Careful.” Brian warned.

Dom approached her carefully, lowering himself a few feet in front of her. When she didn’t move or seem to register his presence he scooted closer until he closed the last of the space between them. “C’mere pup.” Much lighter than before, he wrapped his arms around her, one around her waist and another on the back of her head, drawing her in. She tensed and keened, a low and desperate sound. He grit his teeth and forced himself to push through the indecision. Dom shifted her so that she was practically on his lap and guided her head so that her nose was right up against his scent glands.

“Inhale, c’mon pup, scent me. I’m not mad, I won’t hurt you.”

“What-” Vince began.

“She was getting his scent off of the rabbit.” Brian explained, “It wasn’t drugged, it was Dom’s scent. Just wait a while.”

Cara remained boneless in Dom’s arms, either from the start of a drop or her resignation to her fate it was unclear. There was no change in the atmosphere for a while, until nearly thirty minutes later the scent of fear and hate began to disperse.

“Dom?”

“She’s not in drop, borderline, but her pulse is still too erratic for that.” He leaned his head against hers and stroked his hand over her beanie, cuddling the young pup a bit more. Her hair moved with his motions and he finally caught a glimpse of her nape, it was covered in deep purple scars, there were at least twenty, some overlapping and had obviously been infected at one point. It took everything Dom had to keep the rage out of his scent. Another minute and he felt the pup begin to take deep, gasping breaths against his neck, trying to inhale as much of his scent as she could.

“Thatta girl, good job. Take your time, see? You’re okay here.” He nodded at Vince and Brian to come closer. Only a little disappointed in himself for invading her privacy, he smoothed his hand over her head once again, deliberately showing them the scars on her nape.

Brian’s jaw tightened but he held steady, having seen this shit growing up and also during his time with the feds. Vince looked ready to flip the bed over with rage, but held on to his composure for the sake of not triggering another panic attack.

“W-what’s-”

“That’s my scent, Cara, that’s what you were picking up on the rabbit. It wasn’t drugged, you were smelling pack for the first time.”

“That’s not what p-pack smells l-like.”

“Oh?” He rubbed her back gently, “What’s it supposed to smell like?”

“Bad.” She bit out, her nose still smashed into Dom’s neck despite herself.

“Not always, not when it’s the right one.” She didn’t say anymore and Dom just rocked her for a few more minutes before starting to stand. “Okay, up we go,” he lifted her like she was a child, allowing her to continue hiding her face in his neck.

“Bri, can you grab the rabbit, thanks. Okay, I’m going to move you off the floor and onto the bed.” Dom continued speaking softly to her, explaining each move he made as he gent;y maneuvered her. But when he tried to set her down she attempted to roll onto the floor. “You’re allowed to be on the bed, kid.” She whipped her head from side to side hard enough to get whiplash. He sighed, “I want you to sit on the bed.” He barely caught her as she went boneless to obey the command.

Dom leaned against the headboard and wrapped a blanket around her “Here’s what’s going to happen,” she shuddered at that but he pressed on, “we’re going to sit here together and I want you to keep using that nose of yours. How long has it been since you scented something?” She shrugged.

“Must have been a long time,” Brian jumped in, he was crouched down in front of them now “I never lost my nose for more than half a day.” Her fingers twitched at that and he pressed on at the first sign of interest. “See, I got beat up pretty bad as a kid,” he continued, “by my mom’s boyfriends, my stepdad, gangbangers on the street, and sometimes I got so scared that I just stopped being able to sniff out other people. It always came back, but it was disorienting as hell when it did. So just keep doing what you’re doing, deep breaths in and out and it’ll all clear up soon.”

She nodded and focused at the scent coming from the alpha holding her. It smelled faintly of engine grease, but not in a bad way, and musk with a bite of orange. Underneath that was a tinge of something she couldn’t describe except as home.

_‘So this is what it feels like.’_

Finally giving in a little to her baser instincts, she relaxed against Dom and closed her eyes, still too keyed up to sleep but at peace enough to ease up her guard. She felt him let out a heavy breath and start rubbing her arm through the blanket. Casting a glance up he saw that Vince and Brian looked the same as he felt.

“You getting it now?” She nodded against him.

“Good pup, keep doing what you’re doing. Vince and Bri,” Dom shot a look at them, “are going to get a couple of things of theirs for you to try.” Brian nodded and smoothly turned out the door in the direction of the stairs. Vince only had to walk across the hall, he blindly grabbed the overshirt he wore earlier that day, cautiously sniffing it to make sure it wasn’t full of stink. When he returned he tried to hand it over to his alpha but Dom shook his head.

“Sit here.” Vince obeyed and looked down at the girl next to him. Her head was tilted in a way that clearly showed off the back of her neck, obscenely scarred and mottled with bruises. He noted that they had never seen any of her skin outside of her hands and face, what else was she hiding?

She was tiny, not in a cute way like that you would expect of a little girl, in a scary way. She was vulnerable, that was the word, Dom could easily snap her neck from his position and she wouldn’t be able to do a damn thing about it. Vince wasn’t stupid, he understood the dangers of someone in her position, the ownership and violence towards submissives that was illegal but brushed over by law enforcement. It was a fucking miracle that she survived even a night by herself.

“Kid,” Dom broke him out of his thoughts, “Vince is going to give you his shirt, I want you to try and scent it too, okay?”

Vince reached out and gently brushed the cloth against her fingers. Her arms were still locked over her stomach like she was waiting for a punch to the gut. He waited a beat, “Pup, it’s just me.” Her fingers twitched out and she reluctantly edged away from Dom’s neck, blinking dazedly and looking a bit like Jesse when he was stoned. He managed to catch her eye and ducked his head to give her a warm smile.

Dom took her wrist to bring the held shirt up to her nose and she kicked back panic spiked into the air. “Breathe.” Dom ordered, his tone deep but not harsh, “You’re bracing for a hit that’s not gonna come. Ease off the clutch a bit.” The words were further softened by his other hand rubbing circles into her shoulder as he sat her up a bit more. The shirt was limp in her hand, not from rejection but because it seemed like she honestly had no idea what to do with it.

 _Pheromone high_ His brain supplied.

“Here,” he took back hold of his shirt and raised it to her nose, “try again.” Her nostrils twitched as she tentatively sniffed the collar and her gaze softened.

“You recognize it?” Dom asked.

“Y-yeah. Kinda, I-I don’t know.” She rasped, her voice hoarse from screaming.

“Your brain was picking up what your nose couldn’t, from the rabbit, Vince’s hoodie,” Dom shot him a look, “it’s just registering now. I want you to look under his base scent, tell me if you can smell the same thing you did under mine.”

Her eyes closed in concentration, what did the second in command smell like? Spice, her brain told her, lemon zest that made her nose tickle a bit, a hint of whiskey. Underneath, Dom had said, where was it… and, oh. Some kind of warmth that traveled down her chest into the pit of her stomach, like the first coffee of the day, a little rainwater like the day she met Dom, desert flowers that grew on the sides of the endless roads she had trekked to get here. No acid, no stale sweat, no trace of copper like before.

Cara didn’t notice that she was mumbling these things out loud until Vince left out a watery cough, “That’s what I smell like?” She stopped, did she get it wrong?

“Real good kid, got it in one.” Dom’s pride rang through his voice. It wasn’t a common thing to describe someone’s scent outside of a bond taking place or a child being born. Vince had known Dom since the fourth grade and had joined his pack at eighteen, probably no one except for him and Mia had described it to him since.

“Brian’s here,” Dom mentioned the man who had returned and was watching them from the doorway, “He’s got another shirt for you to scent, then bed, okay?” Cara nodded dutifully, sleep sounded nice right then.

“Bri.” Dom nodded to Vince’s spot and Vince got up to let Brian sit, albeit reluctantly.

“Hey kiddo,” Brian brushed his hand over her beanie like Dom had been doing and raised his own offered shirt. At ease with how things had gone so far, she shakily lifted one hand and raised the fabric to her nose, keeping Vince’s clothing clenched in her other one. Cara allowed Brian to place his hand over hers to keep the shirt in place as she breathed deep.

“What does Brian smell like?” Vince asked, partly to keep the kid engaged and partly as a dig to Brian, Vince had never bothered to tell the buster what he smelled of.

It took a minute, then, “Clouds,.”

“Clouds, huh?” Brian’s face twitched into a grin.

“Salt in the ocean, wood like on the boardwalk.” Her stutter was once again gone, the pheromones they were putting off left her completely docile.

“And under?” Dom asked.

“Warmth, desert flowers, rainwater.”

“Great job, pup.” Dom kissed her head, “I’m gonna help you move a bit, let’s get you lying down, huh?” He eased her onto her side and started pulling his arm from under her, only a little surprised when her hand shot out to grab his wrist. “I’ll stay with you pup, I’m not leaving you. But you still feel cold and I think you’d feel a lot better if you burrowed a bit.” She let go and he proceeded to pull the comforter, throw-blanket, and a few spares on top of her, tucking them in around her like he did for Mia when she was small.

“I’ll be right in that chair when you wake up.”

Catching the hint, Vince and Brian said their goodnights. Vince leaning over and giving a firm kiss to the side of her head and Brian squeezed her hand three times gently. Vince raised an eyebrow at him.

“Special handshake.” Brian whispered, grinning dopily.

Vince shot him a glare, “Get you ass upstairs O’connor.”

“Jealous?” He shot back.

“Good night boys.” Dom said lowly and with a playful glint in his eyes.

The pack alpha looked down at their youngest charge. She wasn’t bonded to them yet, her old pack could still hunt her down and claim right to her, the cops would be able to take custody in a second. But she was theirs, she was family, and he would kill anyone in cold blood who tried to take her away.


	5. Day 4- The Morning After

Cara came to slowly, weighed down by heavy fabric on top of her and a bone-deep exhaustion. She imagined that this is what being high felt like. A distant memory was pressing in the back of her mind, she had felt this heaviness before, but last time there was pain, so much pain. Her nape had felt like fire and there had been an ache between her legs that didn’t go away for days. And blood there had been so much blood, slicking the inside of her thighs and coagulating in her hair. Cara gave a softy whine, wanting to move and check her surroundings, but her limbs were like jello and she was almost one-hundred percent sure she had forgotten how to use them.

“Hey pup,” A low rumble came from her right, muffled by what she was now realizing were blankets that were covering her head, “easy now, it’s me, Dom.”

Dom? Who was D-oh, that’s right. The toretto pack, smelled like home, warm hands and flowers and rain and warmth. There were two shirts clutched in her hands, smelled like Brian and Vince.

“You’re pretty well buried,” the blankets were gently folded down from over head and she found herself blinking owlishly at the alpha’s dark eyes “it’s still pretty early, only 4, you want to get some more rest? It was a long night for you.” The room was nearly dark, only a faint sliver of light way off in the horizon from what she could see through the high-up windows.

“I-I don’t feel-”

“I know, you’re just a little high still is all. Do you remember last night?”

“Y-yeah.” She wanted to close her eyes, she was so tired, but something in her refused to let her go back to sleep.

Dom twitched a smile, “Okay if I sit?” She couldn’t bring herself to nod or even make more words come out. Seeming to understand he sat himself close to the edge of the bed, leaving a good foot of space between them. A gentle hand brushed over her head and lingered. “Smelled like you had a rough wake-up there.”  
“P-pain.” She choked out. Fuck if she wasn’t stoned, her brain felt like it had turned to mush and was about to come out of her ears.

Concern flooded over his face, “You’re in pain?”

“N-no. Was supposed t-to be.” She slurred.

Dom had gotten used enough to her way of talking that he understood in an instant what she meant, “Not supposed to be pain kid, you’re good. You want me closer of farther off?”

“Closer.” She mumbled, suddenly recognizing the need in her to have the alpha close, be able to inhale his scent.

He gave her another easy smile and shifted so he was sitting up next to her, wrapping his arms around her from over the blankets and hauling her up so she was half-laying half-leaning against him. Close enough to feel his warmth but not restrictive enough to make her feel trapped. She gave a deep inhale and burrowed into his side. Dom readjusted the blankets, it wasn’t exactly cold in the basement, but the need to protect and care for the submissive had grown substantially since last night.

“I need to ask you a really important question,” Dom only felt slightly guilty at taking advantage of her half-aware state, “who are you on the run from.”

Her limbs were no longer jello, the question caused her body to seize up and a fucking stick was more relaxed than she was now. He tucked her chin closer into his side, “Breathe. You’re not in trouble here, but I need to know if you’re in any trouble.” She whipped her head side-to-side, her head jerking away from his hold. “Okay, okay, not yet then. Can you tell me where you’re from?”

That was easier, she allowed him to bring her head back down, “SF.”

“San Francisco?”

“Mmmhmm.”

“You been on the run long?”

“Four.”

“Months?” He guessed

“Mmmhmm.”

Dom could tell that her brain was going offline again. Unsurprising, the kid’s been on an emotional rollercoaster since he picked her up off the side of the road three days ago. To be sure, he gently felt the pulse along her wrist, still steady, not slow enough to signal a drop thought. For a while the pair just rested together. The teenager breathing deep and steadily against him, her hindbrain seeking comfort and reassurance from his scent and causing her to remain in the floaty space she was now associating with safety. Dom let his thoughts wander, trying to remember the packs he knew of up north and the temperaments of well-known alphas. Her old pack obviously had enough sense of control and resources to beat a submissive so heavily for years and not have her die on them, indicating that the pack had a reputation in the bay area. Possibly dealers or involved in some kind of organized crime. The clothes she came in were tattered and worn, that either meant that they were hand-me-downs or bought with the intention of her making them last. That was neglect, not a lack of resources.

Time passed and soon the clock flipped over to 5am. Dom debated disturbing her, the pup’s scent was saturated in _calm-safe-_ _content-happy_ and he was loathe to break her out of the best rest she had in probably years. But, the team was about to rise and she needed the protection of the pack which meant she wouldn’t be able to stay home alone. Begrudgingly, he began rubbing firmer circles on her back.

“Pup, it’s time to wake up now. Can you open your eyes for me Just a bit-good girl honey, great job. Let’s sit up together, easy-yeah just like that.” Soon she was upright, her hand coming up to rub her eyes.

“You with me now?” She shrugged in response, he chuckled and steadied her as he guided her to her feet. “Let’s get you some coffee, you can get dressed later. You wanna leave the shirts here or take them with you.”

Belatedly, she became aware that Brian and Vince’s shirts were still clutched tightly in her hands. Embarrassed for her neediness, she shook her head and allowed them to fall to the bed, looking back regretfully at them.

“No worries, we’ll find something to take with you to the garage, ‘kay?” Yes, that was fine, a good solution to this problem.

Dom wrapped an arm around her shoulder, half-supporting her, and walked her out of the room. Across the hall, Vince’s door was open and he was sitting on the edge of the bed, eyes a little red from lack of sleep. He grinned widely when he saw the pair emerge, standing and walking towards them.

“‘Mornin pup.” He kissed the top of her head. Instinctively, she leaned in a bit and sniffed his chest, mind going gooey again at the odor of lemon zest, whiskey, and spice permeating off of him. Vince raised a surprised eyebrow at Dom. “She’s a little out of it, huh?”

“Mmmhmm, had a rough wake-up but she’s settled down nicely.”

Vince chuckled, “Good to see you chilled, kid. You want some coffee?”

She nodded sleepily and compliantly followed the two men to the kitchen, sinking into the chair that Dom pulled out for her. Vince avoided his usual spot across the table, opting to sit on the chair to her right instead. He wrapped an arm around her and she willfully leaned into his side. Vince inhaled her scent, still calm and at peace. His beta quieted at the lack of fear scent that had always been present around her.

“Here you go kid, this’ll help.” Dom placed a full mug of coffee in front of her. This time he had added some cream and sugar to it with the goal of perking her up. Cara held the cup in both hands and began to take slow but deep sips from it.

“The others will be down soon.” Vince noted.

Cara stopped drinking and Dom was quick to jump in, “They won’t say anything, pup. But later today we’re going to have a pack meeting. Nothing bad, but it’s important to keep everyone in the loop.” She nonverbally consented, not having the fight in her to protest.

As the coffee did it’s job she no longer needed Vince to support her and gradually sat up until she was half-slumped over the table, looking just like Mia after she pulled an all-nighter studying. The patter of feet from the second floor began to sound, confirming Vince’s earlier prediction.

The rest of the pack entered into the kitchen with considerably less noise than they usually did. Brian had, after leaving Dom to stay with Cara, given the other members of his pack a brief summary of what happened. The group did their best to act nonchalant about the matter, still nervous to spook the kid despite her obvious calm state.

“Good morning.” Leon greeted cheekily, as aware of the matter as he was, he couldn’t help but radiate glee at the positive ending to the events of last night. Letty nudged him in exasperation but failed to keep the grin off of her own face.

Jesse ended up taking Vince’s usual seat but didn’t look to put-out about it. From this angle he could see the sleepy look on her face and the even rise and fall of her chest.

“Eggs?” Brian asked.

“Toast!” Jesse sprang up, his chair made a loud squeak across the floor and for a second they all held their breath, waiting for the panic that would normally have overcome the youngest’s features. But none came, she blinked a few times in an unconcerned manner and went back to sipping her coffee.

The pack got a glimpse of what she may one day be like, how carefree and relaxed her true personality truly was. It was a stark difference to the girl that they had come to know in such a short time, the girl who she had been molded to be. It sent a wave of resentment and hope through them. Resentment at the people in her former life and hope that, one day, their pack would finally be complete.

  
“Toast.” Brian agreed, breaking the spell.

Breakfast was quiet, Dom was the one who placed her food in front of her and she mechanically ate half of it. She still instinctively wrapped her arm around her plate but some habits die harder than the others. When everyone was finished she rose with them, obediently placing her plate on the counter for Letty to load into the dishwasher. Mia guided her back down to the basement and into the bathroom where she started the shower, making sure the water was hot enough to be comfortable but not scalding. Washing away the scents from the three men would go a long way to finish waking her up.

“You take your time, I’m going to grab you some clothes, okay?” Cara nodded and Mia closed the door behind her, lingering for a moment to ensure that she made it into the shower without falling. She met Dom at the door to Cara’s bedroom.

“Give her this.” Dom held out Cara’s jacket, Mia could smell the pack scent coming off of it. “It’s not too strong to get her high again.”

“Do you think she’ll scent the rest of us tonight?”

“Maybe, we used shirts and Jesse’s rabbit last night. Don’t know if she’s ready for a cuddling session with four other people though. We’ll test out a pack-pile tonight and take it easy, that’s the best time to have our meeting.”

“Is she okay with that, the meeting?”

Dom shrugged, “She wasn’t opposed to it, I think she feels grounded enough now to have that conversation. I was able to get out of her that she’s from San Francisco, I’m going to have Jesse do some research into that area and see what potentials are up there.”

“That’s a long trek.”

“She’s been on the run for four months.”

“Christ, Dom!”

“Pup’s got some mean survival skills.” Vince emerged from his room, fully dressed and bag ready to go. “Wonder what she’s got in that backpack of hers?”

“Not the time to find out, first thing is to get a bit more history. There’s only so much Jesse can find out without her having an ID and no last name.”

“Who’s she going with today?”

“Us, she’s on the run and still bonded to her old pack. I want her surrounded at all times until we get that sorted out. Also, no racing, no fights, none of that shit. If the cops catch a whiff of a submissive that don’t belong here there’s nothing we can do short of kidnapping her and fleeing the country.”

“Or murder.” Vince mumbled.

“Yeah, cause that will play out well.” Mia glared at him. She heard the shower turn off and she quickly grabbed the rest of Cara’s clothes from her room. Dom and Vince went back upstairs to give the girls some privacy.

Mia handed the girl her clothes through the doorway and waited outside while she dressed. She emerged looking much more alert and also confused.

“You ready?” She nodded. “Okay, grab your backpack, you’re going to the garage with Dom and them today.” The kid’s face fell just a bit and a hint of disappointment edged into her scent. “Don’t worry, chica,” Mia smiled at her, “I’ll see you tonight.”

Cara grinned, a full-on, happy, smile. After a moment of debate, she gingerly reached her arms out and gave Mia a quick hug. Mia beamed at the sign of affection.

‘And the boys think they’re so special.’ She thought smugly.

The pair made their way to the front door, Mia passing the younger girl to Dom who placed her in the passenger seat of his car.

“What?” He looked at his sister who was still smiling.

“I got a hug.” She stuck her tongue out at him.

“‘Course you did.” He gave her a smirk, never doubt the power of a caring, loving, sister.

Dom opened the driver’s side door and slid into his own seat, “Ready?” She turned her head up from where she was trying, and failing, to scent her jacket inconspicuously.

“Yeah.”

“Let’s get going then.”

And he drove.


	6. Day 4- History

Cara and Jesse sat side-by-side in what she had begun referring to as his “den.” Jesse idly clicked through engine designs on his system while Cara doodled on her sketchpad. The silence was noticeable but somehow managed to not be awkward. Occasionally, Jesse saw her nostrils flare as she tested out her newly-honed sense.

“Whatcha drawing?” A cigarette dangled from his fingertips.

She turned her book to him, it was a desert road drawn in pencil, looked like PCH. Dozens of tiny flowers grew from weeds on the side of the road. The sketch was intricately detailed, so far, there was a large blank space to the side that had yet to be filled in.

“PCH?” Jesse asked.

“Still need to draw the cliffs and ocean.” She mumbled.

“That’s fucking sweet bro, you ever walked along there?”

A short pause before she answer, “Walking into LA.”

“I never been out of LA, is that North or South?”

“North.”

“I like the flowers.” He added lamely.

“Me too.” She spoke softly.

Ah, an interest, “Do you draw them a lot?”

She tapped her pencil for a few moments then quickly placed her sketchbook down in front of him, arms snapping back and wrapping around her stomach. She looked away, not wanting to see him examine it.

Jesse stared at her for a minute, this was the most open she had been with him since they met. In a way, more open than she was with anyone else in the pack. This was what she thought about, what she imagined, the contents of the book in front of him were things that she kept guarded and had only ever allowed him a glimpse in for work purposes.

The sketchbook was pretty beat-up. There were water stains on the front and what looked like dried blood on a few of the corners. Some dirt was embedded in the binding and it looked like she had dropped it a few times.

The first few pages were hastily drawn still-lifes, a ratty armchair in the corner of a room, a pot in a window, a palm tree, these were probably her first attempts. As he flipped through the content became more detailed, shadowing was added to objects to give them depth and there were finer details that made the sketches look more life-like. They also became darker. A broken bottle of vodka on the wood floor, the inside of a room that was obscured by what looked like bars, a few sketches of the backs of unidentifiable people, one page was completely black except for a small part where what looked like a living room was shadowed in, almost like it was drawn from the perspective of someone hiding in a closet.

He swallowed the lump in his throat and skimmed through half of the book, trying to view it analytically, like he was examining the engine of a car. The second third of the book was brighter, mist over the ocean, a farmers market on a busy day. A lot of landscapes as well, mostly the sides of roads with the ocean somewhere, so along the coastline. He made an educated guess that she walked down PCH the majority of the way.

A thought struck him, flipping back through to the darker portion of the book he saw a sketch that he had originally filed away as another random still-life. It was of a street sign, Park Road, the first marker in the book and just before the pictures became less morbid. Park Road in San Francisco, he could work with that.

“These are rad, man. You got a helluva eye for detail. You said you started because you were bored?’ She nodded, looking at her hands now. “Not much to do where you’re from?”

She didn’t answer and he let it go.

They got checked in on far more than the previous day, Dom, Leon, Vince, and Brian all making appearances. Jesse had given Cara her sketchbook back and she had put it back in her bag, zipping it up tight. Leon spent considerably more time in the small room when he visited. He offered cans of soda and bags of Twizzlers to them, shooting the shit with Jesse and poking away at Cara’s defenses through light jokes and persistent questions about her knowledge of cars.

“She’s got a good eye for detail,” Jesse showed a whole Twizzler into his mouth, “and she gets the function of most of the parts.”

Cara furrowed her brow, wondering how he picked up on that. It was true, she listened to Jesse’s tangents throughout the day and the team’s shop-talk at the dinner table. Each part of the car connected to each other and affected the rest of the car’s functioning. It flowed, it clicked, why was that something to take notice of?

“Well, well, well,” Leon grinned broadly, “looks like we got another mad scientist in the making to join our bud here.” He ruffled Jesse’s head playfully.

If Leon were to be honest, his main objective was to mark the small room with as much of his scent as possible. Slightly jealous that she had been more exposed to Dom, Brian, Vince, and Jesse he felt as though he had to make up for that. The sugar he was doling out was a ploy to gain her affection, who wouldn’t appreciate someone who willingly provided sugar? And she was eating it little by little and seemed to favor the strawberry licorice over the cherry. The Pepsi made her sneeze on her first sip and he’d had to make himself hold back a laugh.

Finally, Dom called Leon back from his “break” and he gave a jaunty wave to the pair. He strolled back into the open space like the cat that caught the canary.

“What’d you do?” Dom deadpanned.

“Me? Nothing.”

“Oh yeah?” Brian called out, “How much sugar are you loading them up with?”

Dom groaned, “You remember what happened last time, Leon?”

“Jesse’s a grown man, and the kid likes it!

“Not like it’s gonna hurt her Dom.” Vince chimed in from under a Toyota.

Dom grumbled and walk back over to the table of spare parts, “I know what you’re doing.”

“And?”

“And nothing, it’s good for her.”

“What’s going to come out of that talk we’re gonna have tonight?” Leon looked at him, suddenly serious.

“Hopefully a lot. I got Jesse doing research in the background of his system. We know she’s from San Francisco but that’s about all. No last name of her blood pack and her first is pretty common.”

“If that even is her real name.”

Dom turned to Brian, “You think she changed it?”

“That’s what I would do.” Brian looked away and returned his attention to the task at hand. “Then again, she responds naturally to it, no hesitation when addressed, I’d say it’s a 50/50 chance it’s hers.”

“Here’s the deal,” Dom addressed everyone and waited until he had their full attention before proceeding, “we take this slow, glacier slow, if she says stop we stop, but fact of the matter is the longer we’re in the dark about who she’s running from the more danger she’s in. She disrespected her alpha and the type of shitbag we’re dealing with isn’t going to let that slide. We know for sure now that she’s bonded, he’s got legal power and most likely his own people ready to back him up.”

“There’s only one way out of this Dom.”

“I know, and she’s smart enough to know that too. We did a good job establishing a baseline last night but there’s more to do. When we get home I need you all to get some fresh things to put in her room, try and find some clothes that may fit her. If, and I mean if she’s open to it we can try to do the same to her day clothes.”

“She’s constantly scenting things now.”

“That’s a really good sign.”

“No shit, Brian.”

“No, I mean it. I’ve seen people drop after their nose comes back online. She settled down and then stayed calm when introduced to two other scents. Plus, she’s interested and picked up on the pack scent on her first sniff. That makes establishing a full bond that much easier.”

“You got a time frame?”

Brian shrugged, “That’s on her. Listen, when I saw these things before, it took years for subs to rejoin a pack. Part of that was stigma, and the system is a fucking shit show, but the trauma of the physcial bite is what we need to watch out for. I saw her neck, Dom, she’s not gonna bare it for us after a day of getting our scents sorted out.”

“I’m not an idiot, Buster, I saw that shit too. That’s why I said we’re gonna take this slow.”

“What if she don’t want us?” Leon asked quietly.

Dom looked at him hard, “Then we hide her until we can’t anymore.”

“I got contacts that could help her disappear, relocate to Canada if necessary. She could make a case for refugee status.” Brian spoke up.

“At fifteen?”

“She wouldn’t be fifteen to my contacts.”

“What the hell kind of ‘contacts’ do you have that you’re hiding from us?” Vince growled.

“People I met undercover and let walk, that’s who. We gonna get into this again?”

“Keep it down, both of you. I knew Brian had contacts, brother, I got their names on file and verified them through Jesse, they’re legit.”

“And you kept it from us?”

“Watch it, and no. We all got connections somewhere, his are just more organized.”

“What kind of crew are we talking about here?” Leon asked.

“Think underground railroad. Feds tried to bust them up a few times and sent me undercover twice, once in New York and once in Seattle. They’ve got rouge hackers, DMV employees, truckers, motel clerks that offer refuge, you name it. Even have some border cops who look the other way free of charge.” Vince relented, he couldn’t blame Buster for keeping them in his address book.

“We’ll give her that option, she’s got the right to know. Even if it means she leaves us.”


	7. Day 4- The Talk

Hours later, but too soon for Cara’s taste, the workday was done and the pack was set to leave. She planned on riding with Dom what with him being the main person to shepherd her around. But Leon elected to drive her home “granny style” as Dom called it and she found herself driving down the vaguely familiar streets with him.

“How was it with Jesse? He speeding too much for you?”

She shook her head. She wasn’t uncomfortable around Leon, he always gave off good vibes and joked around like Pau-, she stopped that thought and forced her mind in a different direction. The fifteen minute drive home was not the time to have a panic attack.

But he was more of an enigma than the others. Dom, Vince, Brian, Mia, Jesse, hell even Letty, who she admittedly had not had as much interaction with but got glimpses of through the woman’s tough exterior, were more open in affect and straightforward. Leon was expressive, but the easygoing nature was sometimes forced and used to cover up for something. Something happened long ago that forced a mask on him. Underneath that was a hint of pain and regret but she couldn't track what it stemmed from.

Cara knew how to read people, she’d been doing it since the day she was born and it was second nature to her now. That skill came in handy on the streets, made it easy to distinguish from someone out looking for trouble and a legit down-and-out fellow street kid. She wasn’t dumb enough to hook up with a street pack though, they survived from trouble that would wind up getting them noticed by sixteen at the latest, and minors couldn’t establish a pack with other minors legally.

“I l-like how he talks.” She finally responded.

“Me too, he’s got a good head on his shoulders. So, cars huh?”

She shrugged, “They click.”

  
“I hear that. Only thing I’ve ever been good at was making something. I don’t get the science or math and shit behind it like some of the other guys do. A lot of it is instinct, you know?And practice, helluva lot of practice, and dropping wrenches on your foot or banging your head against the hood of a car, but it’s natural to me. Couldn’t dream of doing anything else. What about you, you, you ever think about the future?” She shrugged and twitched her hands.

“Well, let me tell you what I know. Everyone’s got a future, doesn’t matter where you’re from, who you are, alpha, beta, sub, whatever. There’s always a way to carve out a life for yourself. It’s hard, it takes a while, I won’t shit you about that. But in the end it’s the only way you’ll be happy, you feel?”

“Yeah.”

“I mean, you do art, and you’re really good at it. That’s something, you make connections between things as easy as breathing, and you’re obviously one of the toughest pups in the good ol’ state of California. Believe me, if you want something you can get it as long as you put your mind to it.” Fuck if he didn’t sound like his 3rd grade teacher right now. “So, what do you want?”

“I-” She started and stopped. Leon waited for her to continue. It wasn’t until they pulled up to the curb outside the house that she finished her sentence, “I-I want to be h-happy.”

“Well,” he turned off the engine, “that’s the best fucking goal there is.”

Scanning the street behind them for trouble, he led her into the house.

“Dinner?” Letty called down the stairs.

“Vince is cooking!” Mia yelled back from where she sat on the couch with a textbook open in front of her.

“Which means we’re having pasta.” Leon informed Cara.

“Because he burns everything else, c’mere girl.” Letty kissed the top of Cara’s head boldly. She didn’t flinch from it, female betas had never been a threat to her before and she was familiar enough with Letty’s mannerisms to know it wasn’t abnormal behavior.

“And what did you do today?” Leon kissed her, “We missed you at the shop.”

“I’m going in tomorrow, had to drive out to Santa Barbara to inspect the shipment.”

“I thought Harry took care of that shit?”

“Harry couldn’t get it.”

“And you could?”

She raised her eyebrows at him, “You doubting me?”

“No ma’am.”

“Good. I’m gonna supervise Vince, otherwise he’s going to slack off and use can sauce. Shit tastes like metal. Oh wait, mija!” Letty turned back to her and held out a purple scarf that Cara hadn’t noticed before, “Here, the garage is fucking freezing these days.” Cara took the offered item, it was made of soft wool and had little tassels on the end, pretty.

“C’mon chica, I’ve been meaning to sort through your dresser with you. And I don’t want you anywhere near the stove in case Vince starts another fire.” She yelled the last part at said man’s back as the two girls walked towards the basement door.

“It was one time Mia!”

“Twice and a half.” She looked down at the kid, “He almost burned Leon’s eyebrows off making pancakes.” Cara hid a smile.

“Okay, so most of this stuff won’t fit you right but it’ll do for now. I know you’ve pulled some stuff out of here before but I kinda made it a jumble for you.” Mia knew that this was a poor excuse to spend time with Cara, but any interaction was positive at this point and she hadn’t seen the pup all day, fucking sue her. “Most of what’s in here has been washed so everything’s pretty scent-neutral, but if you smell something you don’t like just let me know. Our closet’s were a mess and who knows what got left behind here over the past decade. I also found an old jacket I meant to give to you, it’s warmer than the one you have on but good for layering. The weather is supposed to drop into the low fifties at night this week.”

Cara let the older woman ramble, liking the cadence of her voice and the close proximity to another female. Mia was slight, but she could sense the underlying force she was capable of.

“If you need any hygiene items, you know what I mean, they’re in the bottom cabinet on the left of the washing machine. I, um, didn’t know how much under-things you had so I picked some up on my way home. They’re here in the top drawer. Cara didn’t bother to blush, it wasn’t like she was new to wearing underwear.

“Thank you.” She whispered.

Mia turned and brightened, “Of course! And hey, listen, if you ever need a break from the basement feel free to come hang out in my room. I’m usually studying these days and it would be nice to have someone around for company. I’m studying nursing, by the way, if you’re cool with it I might need your help with quizzing me from time to time. Brian can’t keep the flashcards straight.” She rolled her eyes.

“S-sounds f-fun.” And it actually did, she was never able to read much, except for the newspaper and old books left in donation bins. She had her favorite in her bag, The Alchemist, but she hadn’t pulled it out since she got here. It was one of the things best locked away so as not to be taken.

“Ugh, you’re a lifesaver.” Mia rose and wrapped her arm around her shoulder, turning them both to examine the room.

“Is it bright enough in here for you?” Cara nodded. “Good, you good on toothbrushes, toothpaste, hair brush?” She nodded again, she shoplifted from a CVS less than a week ago, she’d be good for another few weeks at least.

“Okay, I’ll let you get changed, looks like Leon didn’t wash his hands well enough when he grabbed your shoulder,” Mia nodded to Cara’s shirt, “boy doesn’t ever wash behind his ears either, I bet.”

“Thanks.”

“Anytime girl, just come on up when you’re ready.” Mia closed the door behind her and opened the drawers to the dresser, much more at ease with borrowing the clothes now that Mia had made it so well-known that she was expected to wear them. Which was relieving, she only brought three shirts and two pairs of jeans that she'd been making last for four months and she was down to her last pair of socks.

Cara picked out a plain black heather grey long sleeve shirt, a pair of black leggings, and an oversized flannel that might have belonged to Jesse at some point. She found some long socks in the top drawer and put those on as well. Looking into the mirror above the dresser she saw that her beanie also had grease stains on the side, great. Should she leave it or go without?

‘Fuck it’ she thought, ‘it’s not like the top of my head it that interesting.’

She put that and her dirty clothes in the laundry basket next to the dresser and tapped her fingers against her legs. What else was there? She decided to make the bed even though all it meant was straightening the covers and righting the pillow, otherwise the room hadn’t been touched, she had been careful not to leave a mess, obey the rules that Dom had laid out on her first morning with them.

With nothing left to do besides stand there and fret she steeled herself and followed the scent of tomatoes and garlic. The kitchen was absolute chaos, there was pasta sauce splattered on the countertops and even a little running down one of the lower cabinets. Vince had what looked like garlic on his shirt, and Letty was muttering something that sounded condescending in Spanish. Jesse sat cross legged on his chair, giving her a sloppy wave when he noticed her standing in the entryway. Leon and Brian were sharing a bag of potato chips as they watched the commotion. Mia had brought her textbook to the table, giving Cara a see what I mean looks before rolling her eyes. Dom wasn’t down yet, she thought he might have been upstairs washing up until she saw his shadowed figure out the window walking back from the shed in the backyard.

“Mia, no homework at the table. Vince, congratulations, you didn’t burn the kitchen down, I’m proud of you.” He entered through the squeaky sliding glass door.

“Dominic!” Letty incensed.

“And you’re also on cleanup duty.” The alpha added, “Alright, let’s eat!”

The dinner passed uneventfully, Cara was slightly more engaged this time, rather than staring at her plate she kept her eyes up to study the others’ interactions. She didn’t make eye contact with anyone, but it was nice to see her face rather than a tattered grey beanie.

Speaking of, “Hey! No hat.” Jesse commented, pointing out the rather obvious fact that her dark brown hair was on full display.

She shook her head, “Grease.”

“Hazard of the profession.” Dom said seriously. “Jesse, you show her the transmission plan for the Charger yet?”

“Not yet, not yet, I got to upload the rest of the specs to the system, didn’t have enough bandwidth for the install because of, you know…”

“No problem, we don’t need it yet. As long as it’s up before Thursday, okay?”

“Thursday...Thursday, yeah that’s right.” Jesse rubbed his eye with his fist, “I thought it was Wednesday today.”

“You drank three sodas, you’re crashing, bro.” Brian commented.

“Better than four.” Letty chuckled, “I’m surprised Leon didn’t give both of them a sugar rush.”

Mia looked at the girl next to her, “Um, you’re feeling okay, right?”

Cara nodded, she felt a bit more twitchy than normal, and there had been a buzzing in her ears for a few hours earlier, but she definitely wasn’t on the same level as Jesse.

“You know, Mia, this reminds me of that one time when you were eight, at the county fair…” Dom started

“Oh god, don’t start Dom!’ She buried her head in her hands.

“And somehow you managed to get both mom and dad to buy you a cotton candy. Not even two hours after we started on the rides,” Dom was looking at the rest of the table now, “Mia was on the floor of the girl’s bathroom and missed out on the spinning teacups.”

The group erupted into laughter, including Mia herself. Her face was red with embarrassment but she could appreciate what Dom was doing.

“You want to ride the teacups, Jesse?” Leon smacked the younger guy’s back.

“Go to hell.”

“I’ll get you an aspirin after dinner.” Mia comforted.

“You’re my favorite, my only favorite. Leon, you go on and find a new friend.”

“Aww, come on, don’t be like that!”

“Alright, alright, you too make up.” Dom waived a hand at the two of them.

“I’m not kissing Leon.” Jesse deadpanned. Letty snickered and Leon shot her a fake look of betrayal.

Brian was dying of laughter, leaning over his plate with a piece of garlic bread squished in his hand. “Yo, Buster,” Letty kicked him under the table, “get yourself together before the pup gets a clue about how loco you really are.”

“I tried to warn you.” Dom directed a playful smirk to Cara.

“Jesus Bri, how much NOS did you have today?” Mia was looking at her boyfriend with exasperation.

“Five.” Jesse snitched.

Dom looked at Jesse, “I only counted three.”

“He threw away two of them in my domain.”

“O’Connor, you’re on water the rest of the night.” Dom said firmly. It was, technically, an order. Brian was overloaded on caffeine and so Dom was putting down a boundary. Sensible, but it still caused a ripple of unease to flutter through her, this was the first time she saw Dom order another pack member, and there was no consequence listed for blatant disobedience on the list on the fridge.

And wait, Dom had said ‘water only,’ did that mean Brian couldn’t consume anything else? He wasn’t eating now, he was grinning stupidly at Mia and not paying attention to the plate in front of him. She waited and continued to track Brian’s movements, if anyone noticed they didn’t say anything. Not until five minutes passed without Brian eating and dread regret betrayal began creeping into her scent.

Dom noticed the change first and immediately flicked his gaze to Cara then followed her line of sight. Dom had given an order, what did he say, ‘water the rest of the night.’ It was a mild direction at best, but he could see how an abused teenager that was starved for over a decade would probably take it. Dom stared at Brian hard enough to gain the other man’s attention. ‘Eat’ he mouthed. Brian blinked in confusion but dutifully shoved a mouthful of garlic bread into his mouth. The alpha held eye contact, silently communicating for him to continue and then glanced down at the pup. She switched her gaze to his direction like she was waiting for something. When nothing happened the negative scents slowly retreated.

“I hear ya Dom,” Brian suddenly said, “I’ll stick to drinking water tonight.”

“Thank you, now make sure you don’t drop all the bread on the floor again, last time you were still hungry after dinner.”

“Yeah, you know me, constantly raiding the kitchen.”

“As long as you don't eat all of the Oreos.” Letty said

Confusion tinted the air and then went away, a panic attack successfully avoided. The team didn’t exactly cut their talk short, but the consensus among them was that the pack meeting should take place as early into the night as possible to give time for breaks if needed. Cara had gone back to clearing less than a third of her plate, too worked up to eat any more of it. She didn’t want to have this discussion, she wanted to go down to the basement and hide in the closet with her sketchbook and never emerge. But she knew the score, she was bonded and they were quite literally putting their heads on the line. So, she stood, wishing for her backpack and the comforting weight of the straps digging into her shoulders.

“We’ll leave the dishes to soak, Vince can finish cleaning later.” Mia said softly.

Dom wrapped an arm around her shoulder and she leaned into his side, “Let’s go to the other room, you can sit wherever you want. And, hey, can you look at me for just a second, pup? Thanks, we’ll take breaks whenever you need to and no one’s going to push for details you’re not ready to give.”

“Okay.” She rasped.

“You feeling okay?” Her grey eyes did look a little on the bright side, he reached up to feel her forehead but she jerked back.

“S-sorry.”

“Don’t worry about it, I should have asked first, that’s my bad and I’m sorry.”

The girl blinked, “It’s okay.”

She sat on the floor with her back against the far chair and Dom sat on the couch to her right. Jesse took his usual spot on the floor in front of her and the rest filled into their usual places as well. She was on the edge of the pack now, but not far enough away to symbol a rejection from them.

“Okay,” Dom started, he leaned forward with his arms on his knees, trying to make him appear smaller, “everyone knows the rules; anyone can have a break, no talking over each other, one question at a time, and Cara can refuse to answer anything unless it’s absolutely necessary. Are we clear?” A mummer of consent from the room.

“Alright then, Cara, you said you’re from San Francisco, right?” She nodded. “There’s a lot of packs up in that area,” he kept his tone low and soothing, “what’s your alpha’s name?”

Cara straightened her back and bit her lip fiercely, this was not good, not good at all. This was dangerous, she would get them all killed-

“Easy, c’mon, take it easy. I know what we’re asking you and we all know the power that a bond holds over someone. But he won’t know that you broke it, not all the way down here. You can say their name, it’s okay.”

“A-Ale-” She cut herself off. Pack was pack no matter what and she was fighting against every mark on her neck that claimed ownership. “Alexander.”

“Monroe?” Jesse asked and the girl nodded in relief.

“Jesse ran a list of potentials earlier,” Dom admitted, “here.” He unfolded the throw blanket hanging off the arm of the couch and laid it over her legs. “Deep inhales when you need to. Are you really fifteen?”

“Almost.”

Dom raised an eyebrow, “How close is ‘almost’?”

“Two months.”

“Smart kid, it’s better to be older when you’re on the run. Is your name really Cara?” She nodded, that wasn’t something she had been willing to give away.

“How long were you with Monroe?” Brian asked.

She shrugged, “Always.”

  
“Are you blood related to the pack?”

“I-I don't think so.”

“Alexander Monroe runs a crew that operates all over SF and the surrounding area,” Jesse explained, “a lot of people are in and out all of the time.”

“Yeah, Jesse, I know about Monroe. His name is all over the database, nothing ever seems to stick to him though.” Brian’s eyes were dark with anger but he asked his next question with the same calming tone and scent he had used with trauma victims he rescued when undercover. “Were you the only sub there?”

“I-I think so.”

“And, were you alone there?” She shook her head, not understanding the question. “I’m asking if there were other people who lived there with you all the time, or if you knew anybody by name who came and went.”

“Why-”

“It’s important for us to know who we’re up against.”

“N-no,” she straightened again, “you-you don’t understand, you-you don’t go up against them!” She didn’t shout, but she spoke louder than she ever had before and the smell of pure terror flowed off of her in waves.

“Okay, shhh, okay kid. Brian’s gonna sit down next to you and I want you to focus on his scent, you got it before, remember? Can he sit down?” She buried her head in her hands and nodded. Dom would have preferred to offer her his own neck, but an unbonded alpha, even one with a good scent, would be more likely to trigger a negative outcome when they were already asking her to essentially rip out of the pack-conditioning.

Brian moved off of the second couch next to Mia and sat on her free side. He was close, close enough for her to rest her head on his shoulder if she had wanted to but instead she inhaled deeply, picking up the strong odor of _protect_ , something buried deep away in his base scent like it had been intentionally hidden.

“Leather.” She mumbled.

“Leather?” Brian echoed and shot a glance at Dom who mouthed ‘Later.’

When she was calm Dom started again, “Did you know people who lived with you?”

“Yeah.”

“Are they still there?”

“A couple.”

“Do you know what happened to the rest?” The question made him sick to ask and he was unsurprised at her answer.

“Dead.”

At this Dom took stock of his pack. Jesse was rocking back and forth, a replacement for pacing. Leon had his hand on Letty’s shoulder who was looking steely eyed at the girl, her anger not directed towards Cara but at the son of a bitch that did this. Mia was watching Brian with a familiar and determined look on her face and Vince, Vince’s fists looked like they were set to punch a hole in the coffee table but he kept his cool.

“When?”

“‘S random, sometimes none and then sometimes a lot.” He stutter was gone, whatever 'leather' was it was a fucking godsend.

“Why did you run?” Dom asked the question that was on everyone’s mind.

“Had to, I could feel it.”

“Feel what?”

“Like,” she frowned, “like you’re giving up. And the days start disappearing and you don’t remember if you ate or slept or anything.”

“There’s a name for that, it’s called Sudden Sub Inanition. It happens when a sub is force-bonded into a pack and then psychologically and physically tortured.” Brian’s words were clinical and not pressing her to personalize the term.

“Oh.”

“So how’d you manage to escape Alexander Monroe’s compound?” Leon asked.

“‘Was awake for a while, there were less people than normal. They had a party, I think, or a business thing. Everyone passed out, I broke my pencil.”

“You broke your pencil?” Dom couldn’t see how this fit into the story.

“When I was unscrewing the nails.” She was still drawing in deep breaths from Brian and had succumbed to leaning her head near his shoulder. If she was going to do this she might as well not have her heart explode from the stress.

“There were boards on the windows?” Dom guessed.

“No, from the-” she gestured to her leg, “the chain.”

Dom swore that he could feel the room get ten degrees colder, “Does anyone need a break?”

“No, no.” Mia shook her head. Seeing the same dissent from the rest of his pack, Dom allowed Brian to proceed, hoping to get this over with as soon as possible so he could get the poor girl to bed.

“And then what did you do?”

“The window in the right hand bathroom didn’t have bars on it, I broke it with a towel and had to climb down.”

“So, you climbed down, what did you do next?”

“I ran, had about four hours until they’d go looking. I knew ‘cause the sun wasn’t up.”

“You were alone in the middle of the night near the bay in San Francisco,” Brian walked her through the memory, “what happened then?”

“The warehouse. I got a-um, I found a cutter thing.”

“Bolt cutter.” Vince supplied.

“Cut the rest of the chain and then went down south. There was a Goodwill with trash bags out in the back, I found a change of clothes and the-my backpack.”

“And what, you just kept running for four months?” Vince asked.

“Didn’t have nowhere else to go.” At this point her eyes were closed and she had drug the blanket up to her neck.

Brian looked up at Dom, they had gotten the name of her pack, the details about how managed to get away, the next ones he usually asked were somehow even more difficult.

“When did he bite you?” They all waited for several breaths, a few debating whether or not to call it all off.

“Over a year ago, I think I’d just turned thirteen, I had a blue shirt. I hate blue shirts.”

“Yeah, buster got her high.” Vince mumbled.

“She got herself high.” Mia whispered back, “How else did you expect her to break the pack like that?”

“Fair enough.”

“It won’t always be this way, she’s still adapting to scenting. Her nose is only good when it’s up in her face or you stick her in a room full of your shirts.”

“Do you know how many times he bit you?” Brian continued.

“A lot.”

“Do you remember how long it took?”

“Twenty moons.”

“Moons?” Letty looked at Brian.

He clarified, “Nights. You’re mind works different, doesn’t it pup?”

“‘S weird, they didn’t really like it.”

Dom swallowed, “Well, that’s their problem.”

“You said you were chained, was it to one room?”

“Only at night.”

“Did anyone, at any point in time, hurt you?”

“Why?” She mumbled.

“It’s important.” Dom jumped in, sensing that she was nearing a boundary.

“Yes.”

“How often.”

“Sometimes everyday, sometimes every other day. It depended I guess.”

“How badly did they hurt you?

“Depends, sometimes you could just walk it off, sometimes it was another day after that I woke up. I learned to sew, Paul taught me.”

“Learned to sew what?”

“Stitches, like with floss. But not mint, that stings, you need plain floss.”

“Don’t I know it kiddo.” Brian soothed, running a hand over her head while thinking of how to carefully phrase his next question.

“You said Paul taught you how?” She nodded against his shoulder.

“How long have you known Paul?”

“Knew, he died. I think they put him in the desert.”

“Jesse,” Dom whispered, “you find out whatever you can about a Paul that ran with Monroe’s pack.”

“On it, boss.”

“How long did you know him before he was put in the desert?”

“Half a year, maybe, he didn’t last long. I heard Alpha say he was a liar. I don’t want to talk about Paul anymore.” She blinked at Dom, letting her mind push through the calm that Brian was providing.

“That’s okay, you don’t have to. You’ve been very helpful, Cara, you did a great job. You said that they hurt you, and you were living on the streets, are you hurt right now?”

She shrugged, “‘Nothin new.”

“Can Mia take a look at you?”

“No.” She shook her head, “I can-can do it myself. Nothing’s broken or anything.”

“Cara, it doesn’t have to be tonight. But it would make me feel a lot better if you let me look you over to make sure no one did anything that might come up again later. Can you think about it for me, please?” The beta asked.

“...’Kay.”

“Thanks, pup.”

“So, here’s where we can go from here, no matter what the final say is going to be yours. Brian has contacts in an underground railroad system that can get you across the border to Canada, Jesse already did the vetting process on them and they’re legit as can be. Or, if you know of anyone who you want to go to, any family or people you met on the streets, we can get you to them. But, if you wanted to, we would really be honored to have you join our pack.”

“I-” She looked at the man, stunned.

“We don’t need an answer right now, kid.”

“No! No-I mean, I wanna stay.” She mumbled the last part. “You guys smell different.”

Leon waggled his eyebrows at Letty as he felt his chest puff up with pride, “What does the pack scent smell like to you?”

“Something warm, like when it’s early morning and you drink the first cup of coffee, rainwater, desert flowers. And it feels like a ‘click’ in some part of my brain, I don’t know what that means.”

“It means that your hindbrain is accepting us.”

“Oh.” With Alpha it had felt like her blood vessels were exploding, this was a nice difference.

“Well, what do I smell like?” Leon asked eagerly.

“I-I um, it’s really faint.” She looked embarrassed.

“Cara,” Dom interrupted Leon before he could jump in again, “if you want to be fully in the pack then you know that means you’ll have to complete a full bond. I’m not saying that to pressure you, and you take as long as you need with that. But in the future it would have to happen. Right now we have no claim to you, personally I don’t give a flying fuck what the law says in that regard, but it puts you more at risk.”

“I-” she sighed, “I know.”

“What are you thinking right now?” Brian asked.

She shook her head, too embarrassed to say it out loud in front of everyone so instead tapped the back of her neck. She had a feeling that they all got a good glance at it last night. When she was in the compound, which was really just a big and shabby house that was close to being condemned and therefore perfect for hiding illegal activities, she could never bring herself to spare more than a quick glass in the bathroom mirror. But the night outside the goodwill she had forced herself to take a good look in a mirror that was left for donation. She had thrown up pure bile right there in the alley and had immediately snagged a jacket with the largest hood she could find. Her hair had been cropped short back then, it had taken her months to grow it out enough to hide the scars.

“I don’t understand.” Jesse looked at Dom.

“Twenty nights, man.” Vince mumbled.

“...oh.”

“Don’t you worry about that, the only thing that matters about them to me is that he hurt you.”

That was a nice thing for him to say, but what kind of pack would want to bring that type of shame to them, a submissive with a neck she would have to hide for the rest of her life.

“This has been a long night, for all of us. Does anyone else have any questions? Speak now or hold your peace.”

“Were there cameras at the compound?” Brian asked and she nodded an affirmative. “Do you think it’s possible that he’s looking for you now?”

“He doesn’t let people go.” She looked serious, “He doesn’t handle disrespect well.”

“So it would be reasonable to say that he sent people to track you down.”

A wave of cold washed through her, “I-I laid low, hopped bus two hours after I left. W-was thirty miles out by the time he would have woken up…”

“Easy,” Dom leaned over more until he took up half of her view, “breathe, nice and deep. Good job. Brian’s going to get closer and I’m going to explain to you what step’s we’ve already taken to protect everyone in this room.” Brian dutifully closed the slight gap between them and fully wrapped his arm around her. He tugged her until she was melded into his side, eyes glassy and wide with fear.

“Hector, a good friend of ours, runs the crew just north of here. He keeps tabs on who comes in and out of the city. His family extends up past Santa Barbara and they pass on any information on alphas and betas that may be trouble. If they flag someone they pass it on to the rest of the family. Hector always gives us the alert too, we’re allies, if someone is a threat to his pack they’re a threat to us as well. Brian used to live in Barstow, he’s got a friend from there who runs a wide territory in that area with past history with organized crime. Same thing as with Hector, if trouble pops up he passes it along. I’m going to be honest with you, this pack has done illegal things in the past, we’re straight now, but it’d be stupid to overlook people we may have pissed off along the way.”

“Leo, he’s a gangbanger who cruises this area, makes it a point to beat down outsiders who stroll through. If someone were to come looking I can guarantee you we’d have heard about it.” Vince added.

“You said his name before, I remember.”

“He’s not a good guy, he doesn’t give passes to anyone, including subs. That’s why it’s not safe for you to be out alone at night. Once you fully bond he won’t mess with you, until then he considers you as an invader in his territory.”

“It’s going to be safest if you stick with me, Mia is more than capable of defending herself and you, she won’t hesitate to rip someone’s throat out with her bare teeth, believe me.” He looked at his sister proudly, “But if Monroe sends someone they’re gonna hesitate at another alpha. Now that we know who your pack is I’m going to have Hector and his family pay special attention to them, Brian’s going to put out the alert to his contacts as well.”

“There’s also a good chance that they’re centering their search up North near Canada where you could claim asylum.” Brian added.

“We’ve taken every precaution, now we lie low and keep on our normal routine. How’re you feeling now pup?”

“I-I’m fine. Thanks. Y-you can...you don’t need t-to be doing this.”

“Maybe we want to.”

“I’m used goods.” She spat out, boldly.

“Kid, It’s not my place to give you an order, yet, but know that that kind of self-talk doesn’t fly here. You’re not ‘used goods,’ you’re Cara and you’ve been through hell for fourteen years.”

She swallowed, she didn’t know where that outburst had come from. “S-sorry.”

“You’re forgiven, no punishment. But next time I’m going to ask you to correct your language. If you don’t Leon replaces a pack of Twizzlers with an apple.”

“Ooooh, that’s harsh Dom!” Leon joked.

“Yeah, lay off the kid!” Letty joined in.

“Settle down now. Pup, we’re going to give you some things, clothes and stuff, for you to start scenting. Take your time with it, if you want to bring them with you to the garage then we’d love for you to do so. We set it up so there’s going to be something fresh everyday. If you ever feel like you’re dropping I want you to get me immediately or tell someone so they can find me. If I can’t bring you up from it, are you okay with me and another pack member helping you through it?”

“I...I don’t know what a drop feels like?”

Dom opened his mouth to respond but Jesse jumped in, “Like you’re falling, kinda starts off as fuzzy and dizzy. There’s a lot of panic and fear and like you can’t find ground to stand on.” As close to borderline as he was, he had a good idea of what the start of one felt like but he never had the unfortunate pleasure of going into one himself.

“Oh...okay. But...I know how to-”

“I’m sure you do.” Vince said darkly.

“The point is you don’t have to anymore.” Dom finished for him. He looked around the room, feeling like this was a good time to wrap things up. “Do you have any questions for us?” When she shook her head he nodded in understanding, it had been a long day for the young pup, “I think it’s time for bed then, guys, go grab your things.” The team nodded and trekked upstairs. Vince rose from his seat next to Dom and allowed his alpha to pass around the coffee table so that he could grab another of his shirts. Brian passed Cara along to Vince and followed upstairs as well.

“I’ll get you a new hoodie when we get you down stairs, kid.” He settled in next to her. “If you have a nightmare, wake me up, okay? I’ll leave my door open and you can just call from across the hall.” She nodded but hoped that it wouldn’t come to that.

“I hope that Leon doesn’t give you anything he forgot to wash.” Vince mused, he got a soft chuckle out of her.

“I-I think he smells like motor oil anyway.”

“Oh really?”

“It-it was in the room more when he gave us soda.” Vince patted her arm, not wanting to confirm part of Leon’s base scent so as to not influence her nose.

Soon after the previously mentioned man came rambling down the stairs and held out one of his button-ups to Cara. “Letty already checked for grease, sorry about your beanie.” She took it and smiled at him, all was forgiven.

“I did check for grease.” Letty handed Cara another scarf, this one had a stronger scent coming from it and was a dark grey. The fabric was fuzzier and felt good against her knuckles.

Mia gave her the heavy jacket she mentioned earlier, Jesse one of his tank tops, and Brian and Dom each gave her another one of their shirts. By the time they were done her arms were full and she had no idea what she would do with everything.

“Good night, Cara.” Mia kissed the top of her head and then whispered “thank you for staying.”

The rest of them bid their goodnights as well, leaving Dom and Vince to walk her to her room. Vince brought her the promised hoodie and laid it on her bed. “It might help if you um, made a nest, you know?”

“Um…”

“Have you done that before?” Dom asked.

“N-no.”

“Well, just lay them out on the bed however they seem right. It’ll come to you.” Dom drew her in for a hug “Sleep tight kid, you come get one of us if you need anything.”

“Thank you.”

“Goodnight pup.” Vince ruffled her hair.

Now alone, Cara turned off the light and climbed into her bed to begin arranging the clothing. Mia’s jacket should be over her back because the fabric was heavier than the other clothes. Vince’s hoodie was a good pressure against her stomach and she decided that she could bundle Brian’s shirt on top of it. She put Leon’s button down above her head on the pillow and Jesse’s under her head so she could get a good scent off of it during the night. Letty’s scarf ended up wrapped in her hand where it fit the best. Dom’s shirt, where could she even fit it in the pile? She couldn’t, it was too big, but she also didn’t want to leave it off of the bed. She took off the flannel and pulled off the long sleeved shirt she put on earlier, catching a glimpse of her ribs sticking out in the moonlight.

Hesitantly, she fingered the skin over them and felt the ridges of long and thin scars. Alpha preferred to use a switchblade that he kept in his shirt pocket, his friends made do with the long kitchen knife that was kept in the far left drawer of the kitchen. The burns on her chest and stomach, those were from cigars and cigarettes. Alpha smoked Cubans, those burned like hell. The cigarettes were more bearable, she knew that his betas would have preferred to leave a bigger mark, but Alpha was territorial.

She stopped herself, she was tired and emotionally drained. Now was not the time for a trip down memory lane. She tugged Dom’s shirt on over her sports bra and his heady scent filled her nose. Yes that was right, a little embarrassing to find such huge comfort from someone’s scent that she had known for only a few days but she could change out of it when she woke up. After pulling back on the flannel she returned to the nest and closed her eyes.


	8. Day 5- Hector

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for all of the support!

Cara awoke from what was literally the best sleep of her life. No nightmares, no one dragging her out of bed by her hair, no chin digging into the skin of her ankle. She was so warm and comfortable that she almost didn’t want to leave. She laid in bed for a bit warmer, basking in the warmth of the pack scent and her easy wake-up. All too soon, she heard a gentle tap on her door.

“Kid, you awake?” Vince spoke softly through the wood barrier.

“Mm, yeah.” She pushed herself off of the bed and stumbled to the door.

“Mornin.” He smiled at her when she opened it. “Coffee?” She nodded, coffee.

When she got to the kitchen she saw that Letty and Leon were already awake. The woman was leaning against the kitchen counter with a mug in her hand, absently stirring a large pot on the stove.

“Oatmeal?” Vince asked.

“We got a lot of fruit that needs to be used up, and we’re out of eggs.” She replied, “Morning pup! How’d you sleep?”

“Really good, thank you.” She rubbed her eyes.

“Good.” Letty left the pot and gave her a light hug.

Cara inhaled, “Oh.” She said simply?

“Yeah?” Letty smiled knowingly.

“You’re dandelions.”

“Good on you kid!” She ruffled her hair, “and?”

“Bubblegum, earth.”

“Sounds like your nose is fully recovered.” Vince sounded please.

“Wait!” Leon stood, “You pick up on me?” Despite his jovial attitude he stood a bit apprehensively in front of her before rubbing his wrist on his neck to offer to her.

“You don’t ne-need to do that.” She mumbled to the floor, “You’re mint and cedarwood and motor oil.” She had come to that conclusion a flat second after holding his shirt last night having already had a hint from her earlier interactions with him at the garage yesterday.

“High five, then!” He flipped his palm over and she tapped it with her own.

“Mija, what kind of fruit do you want?”

“Um…”

“Want me to just give you a little of everything?” Cara nodded, relieved.

She knew the kinds of fruit that the vendors sold on the side of the road, mango was her favorite. The matronly women who often ran the stalls would practically force plastic cups of it as well as jicama sprinkled with Tajin into her hands as she walked past. They always looked at her like they knew something, once or twice she noticed them say something to their male pack mates. Whenever that happened it was never a surprise to see the same men follow her by foot or in a car for a bit. It had freaked the shit out of her at first and was almost certain that they were trying to abduct her. Until one day a couple of betas smelling like trouble started tailing her. She had picked up the pace without trying to let them know that they had been made. When they managed to get closer she saw, from the corner of her eye, the male pack members of the vendors grab them and throw them to the dirt ground, yelling angrily in Spanish.

_‘Mija,’ a voice had called from her other side, after turning her head back around she saw another man, a male beta who was maybe mid-forties, hold out a brightly patterned scarf, ‘take this, and be careful.’ She had taken it, her hand shaking fiercely._

_‘This is not supposed to happen in this country.’_

_‘T-th-’_

_‘Watch for the cross in a circle.’_

It wasn’t until later that she understood what he had meant. Without having had any previous exposure to the world or other cultures she hadn’t known the traditional hispanic concepts of submissives. They were apparently seen as sacred and more valuable to a pack than even the alpha. To harm a submissive in any way was taboo and often resulted in vigilante justice from the surrounding community. Hispanic immigrants would often put up signs with a cross inside of a circle near their business to signal that it was a safe haven for submissives on the run. She had never gone to them, not wanting to bring trouble down on the kind people, but whenever she passed one of the proprietors she had gotten a nod and knew that someone had her back for a few miles.

“Where’d you go?”

Cara blinked the thoughts away, how long had she been standing there? “Um, nowhere.” She looked down at the bowl Letty handed to her, it was half full of oatmeal and half full of brightly colored fruits, about half of it was...mango? Cara looked at her curiously, was she a fuckign midnreader? Letty touched her own nose like it was some kind of answer and shook her head. Well, she wasn’t going to complain. The closest thing she’d had to fruit in a while were the Twizzlers Leon kept sneaking her yesterday.

Cara sat down as the others slowly began filing in. Brian grumbled a bit at the oatmeal on the stove but then relented when he saw the pint of blueberries on the counter and poured half of them in. He walked to the table with his bowl and three mugs that he managed to carry in one hand through looping the handles through his fingers. He placed two of them in front of Mia and Cara and kept the other for himself. She picked up her mug and took a big gulp, trying to clear the last of the previous night’s tension away.

She didn’t notice that the she was still wearing Dom’s shirt under the done-up flannel and not the long sleeved one she was used to wearing. She also didn’t notice when, upon lifting the mug to her lips, the oversized sleeve fell down her forearm and exposed a thick rope-like scar and several cigarette burns.

But they did, which might have been problematic had not Dom also taken a seat at the table and shot a fierce warning look at his pack. Not now it said, they had time and there was no need to figure out everything in just a few days. They had already made much more progress than he had anticipated, unfortunately that had little to do with the amount of trust and comfortability she had with them and more to do with the danger that she was in.

“Mango, huh?” Dom poked at her.

“L-Letty said…”

“It’s nothing kid, but you like mango, right?” She nodded, very much confused now.

“Later,” Jesse took a swig of his own coffee, “you gotta let me in on what my scent is. I know mine, obviously, but it’s nice to hear, ya know? Oh shit, yeah I forgot, that new interface part that Letty found me-”

“I’m taking everything down today, I’ll be at the shop by one at the latest. It depends on traffic.”

“Don’t play around with it until you get the specs up that we need tomorrow.”

“I got you boss. But yeah, there’s extra space to download software to make depth more realistic. So the designs and parts are gonna be a lot easier to finalize. It will save a lot of time and take up less bandwidth in the system.”

“Good work, and we should be able to lay out the designs for the Supra early next week. Hector texted me this morning and he’s going to bring down a few cars. There was an ‘altercation’ that got out of hand in West Hollywood.”

“What happened?” Brian asked.

“If you really want to get into that then you can go right ahead and call him yourself, buster.”

“Nah, it’s good. Do you know the damage?” Brian waved him off.

“He said it’s bad, there’s a time crunch on it too which is why he needs some help.”

“Is he coming himself, or sending someone with a flatbed?” Vince asked.

“He’s coming alone.” Dom addressed Cara, “You don’t need to meet him if you don’t want to. He’s a good guy, if a little energetic. We’ve bailed each other out of trouble on more than one occasion.” She nodded at him, she at least wanted to catch a glimpse of him, if for no other reason being that Dom said he was supposed to be keeping an eye on who went in and out of the area.

Dom looked at the clock on the microwave, “Let’s head out in thirty. Pup, do you mind riding with me?” She gave him a faint smile and shook her head, not at all.

Since she planned to shower later that night she helped Jesse wash out the dishes and load them into the dishwasher. Expertly rubbing off the crusted-on oatmeal from the bowls and spoons with the edge of a sponge. It was one thing she could contribute, at least. Once that was done she went down to her- the spare room to change. Jeans, long sleeved shirt, Mia’s jacket, Letty’s scarf, simple. She was a bit sad at leaving her hat behind but hadn’t had the time to scrub the grease off of it yesterday. Then, remembering Mia mentioning layering for the weather, she put on Leon’s button-up over her shirt. That was better.

Finally, she examined the contents of her backpack. Now that she was officially staying it was probably unnecessary to carry around everything she owned on her back. Still, it was hard to leave them behind. There was a nagging fear that once she got too comfortable she’d have to run for it all over again.

Ultimately she decided to hide her extra clothes in the dresser and leave the rest alone for now. The bag was still heavy what with it containing all of her money, forty-three dollars and twenty-six cents, a dull switchblade, her sketchbook, a bag of pencils, three protein bars, her first aid kit (which was pathetically low on supplies), and a Ziploc full of bobby pins and hair elastics.

When she met Dom at the front door he didn’t say anything about the obviously less-bulky backpack. He just put his hand on her shoulder and led her to the car, it seemed like this was becoming a ritual with them. Now that she didn’t spend all of her time looking down she noticed that he scanned the street before sliding into the driver's seat. Had he been doing that all this time?

“I’m really glad that you chose to stay.” He spoke about five minutes into the drive. She noted how he specifically said chose, as if he was reiterating that this was indeed her own decision to make.

“Me too.” She coughed a bit, fuck.

“Are you sure you feel okay?” He looked concerned.

“I-I’m fine.” Yeah, her voice was a bit raspy and there was a bit of an ache in her shoulders, sometimes she felt like coughing and she was currently fighting off a sneeze. But she was fine, totally fine.

He made a noncommittal sound but dropped the topic. “See that coffee stand?” She turned her head, there was a small but obviously well-maintained stall next to a Mexican restaurant and a tattoo parlor, “Mia and I would walk this way to school when we were kids. And every day when it was cold out Ms. Flores would sell us a cup of hot chocolate each. I learned later on that she didn’t charge us for the whipped cream.” The alpha had a fond smile on his face, it was obvious that he had history in this town, it was his home and not just a place where he had an address.

“I-I um,” she cleared her throat, “there were some v-vendors that gave me mango and jicama.” She offered.

“Oh yeah, where at?” He led her on.

“PCH mostly, along it in different places.”

“They sound like good people.”

“Yeah, they were.”

“Did they tell you to look for the cross in the circle?” He asked easily.

She whipped her head around from where she had continued to start out the window, “How did…”

“It’s one of those things that you only know about if you need it” which he obviously didn’t, “or if you have a history with the other side of the law.”

“I never went in.” She mumbled.

“But they helped you?”

She nodded, “There were um..people following me sometimes. After-after I passed by.”

“Bet that scared the shit out of you.”

“I figured out by then what they were doing.” Dom noticed that the longer she talked the less she stuttered.

“Well, you do strike me as a smart kid.”

“There, um...were these betas..” She trailed off and Dom allowed her to find the words, “They started following me but then some of the other pack members of the vendors helped me. Up by Salinas.”

“Must have been a long walk down there.”

“I like walking, I saw the ocean.”

“You ever go for a swim?” Dom swore to god he almost heard her snort.

“No.”

“Because you don’t know how?”

“Yeah.” That and one look at her body in a swimsuit would have got the cops down to the shoreline in a flat second.

Dom pulled up behind the garage and waited until she got out. When she neared him he held out his hand, palm flat. Slowly, he lifted it towards her face and quirked his eyebrow as if to ask permission. She stiffened but otherwise didn’t move. Fairly confident she wouldn’t bolt around the car he gently laid the back of his hand on her forehead.

“You feel warm, too warm.”

“S-sorry.” She looked down.

“You’re not in trouble kid, it’s not your fault that you’re a little sick.”

“I’m not-”

“Yeah, you are. But it’s just starting up, we’ll get some medicine into you and keep watch on it.”

The rest of the pack had already arrived, preferring to drive at their normal speeds rather than the safe one Dom had all but ordered them to when they had Cara with them. Depending on the leads Hector ended up throwing at them, the rest of his pack may have to stick to the speed limit at all times.

“Alright kids, go play.” He told Cara and Jesse affectionately.

Dom waited until Jesse had shut the door to his work area before going into the office knowing that the three other men would follow him once they were finished with opening. He donned his work shirt and picked up the folder Jesse had left on the desk before his arrival and began to thumb through it.

Alexander Monroe, alpha male, 45, one of three children born to Judith and Michael Monroe, though he was the only alpha. His original pack was centered around Seattle but when Monroe was twenty he migrated down South by himself. It appeared that his father, the pack alpha, supported this as he had moved quite a few extended pack members down with him. After about a year of Alexander settling in most of them were called back to Seattle.

Fully independent and actions indicating a narcissistic personality, Alexander had made quick work of terrorizing the smaller packs with less resources and coercing them to bond with him. It was a messy but surefire way to build up numbers. Over time the pack would have found equilibrium, but submissives would be faster and cause less bloodshed.

Which is where Cara came in. She wasn’t Alexander’s first sub, he would have needed at least one who was old enough to fully bond, at least a teenager. Monroe operated so far below the law that he would undoubtedly have connections to a human trafficking ring. Cara had admitted that there were other subs before her and that she had been with the pack for as long as she could remember. It would make sense for the alpha to get a sub young, easier to mold and condition. People were tested for their orientation at birth, if she was born into human trafficking then it would be impossible to track down her birth mother.

Unsurprisingly, there was practically nothing on Cara herself. She wasn’t registered in the system which would not be uncommon for her situation. Jesse had compiled basic demographics to help Brian’s contacts and Hector’s pack and extended pack. He flicked to the single page at the back of the folder.

NAME: Cara Monroe

AGE: 14

WEIGHT: Unknown

HAIR COLOR: Dark brown

EYE COLOR: Grey

DESIGNATION: Submissive

BIRTH PLACE: Unknown

LAST RESIDENCE: 1852 Park St, San Francisco

ALPHA: Alexander Monroe

Paper-clipped to the folder were FBI surveillance pictures of Monroe’s home, himself, and known associates. Jesse had managed to take a few discrete photos of Cara as well, Dom knew that she would freak out about that but it was one of those things that had to be done.

“That her file?” Vince asked from the doorway.

“Yeah, it stays in the safe here or at home. Hector’s getting his own copy.”

Vince held out his hand and Dom passed it to him. While he was flipping through the contents Dom filled him in about Cara’s possible sickness.

“It’s not a surprise, her immune system is probably shot, she’s still recovering from near SSI, and whether we want to admit it or not she’s going to drop soon.” Brian entered.

“How long do you think we have before that happens?”

“Based on my follow-ups with past victims, maybe a few weeks. Two months at the most. It honestly depends on the hold her bond has on her. She’s been disconnected from her alpha for over four months now which means her brain chemistry is struggling to adapt.”

“I can bring her through a drop without forcing a bond. It’ll be hell on her system but we’ll get her through it. I’ll take to her later about it and form a plan.”

“Mia needs to look her over soon, especially now that she’s coming down with something. Any injuries she sustained before running should be healed by now. But she was living on the streets and I doubt she got out of that unscathed.”

“Judging by the state of her neck and arm Mia’s going to need backup during the exam. If not for keeping Cara from bolting then to keep Mia from having a breakdown.”

“I saw you V, you looked like you were going to flip the table over.”

“No shit, buster.”

“Enough, we’ll continue like normal for today. I want Hector to meet her, or just get a glance of her in-person. We don’t need to humanize her for him but it wouldn’t hurt to see for himself who he’s helping to protect. I texted Letty to pick up some medicine for Cara on her way back from picking up the gear. Leon’s in charge of making sure she takes it.”

“I have a spare hoodie here that she can have too.”

“Thanks, now, this is what we’ve got on the docket today.” Dom switched to business mode and doled out assignments to his crew.

\--------------

“What’s up brother?” Hector called from his rig.

“Hector, good to see you.” Hector grasped his hand and pulled him in for a one-armed hug, patting his back roughly.

“Thanks for the assist, there’s absolutely no room at my place.”

“No worries, consider it a thank-you for keeping watch.”

“No need for thanks, my guys are biting at the leash to fuck this piece of shit over.”

“Might want to shorten that leash after looking through the file Jesse put together.”

Hector let out a low whistle, “What the fuck kind of pup did you pick up bro?”

“She’s a good kid.”

Hector held up his hands, “Not suggesting otherwise. Just commenting on your pack’s history with adopting strays.”

“She’s a tough pup, fits right in.”

“She’s gotta be to make it out of what you’re suggesting.”

“Come on, Vince will tow the cars out back. Depending on the damage it’ll take about a week.”

“Sounds good, next job’s in nine days.”

“We’ll make it happen.”

“Am I going to meet her?”

“Hopefully, she’s skittish as hell but didn’t freak at the suggestion earlier.”

“I’ll be her favorite uncle in less than a month, guarantee you ‘cuz.”

“She likes mango.” Dom informed him.

“Heh,” Hector smirked, “I can work with that.”

They strode through the garage to the back office where Dom handed him the file. As Hector looked through it his face turned as serious as Dom had ever seen. “This is bad, hombre. Like, Fed-level bad.”

“You hear anything through the grapevine about a hunt?”

“Not so far, but we didn’t start keeping tabs on these guys until a few days ago. If they made it through our territory before then it’ll be hard to track them down. Don’t worry, I’ll increase the betas around Echo. Have you considered letting Leo in on this?”

“At this point I don’t think it’ll hurt. Fucker will probably cream his pants at a free pass to rip through someone.”

“Not that he’s looking for a pass. I can pass on the word and leave your name out of it.”

“I appreciate it. If you want to wait outside the door I’m going to see if the kid will be okay to say hi.”

“Fuck yeah bro!”

Dom left Hector and crossed the hall to Jesse’s door, giving it a light knock before opening it. The pair were staring intently at his monitors which were filled with blueprints of transmission mods.

“Hey pup, Hector’s here. You up to meeting with him? It’s okay if you’re not.”

Cara flitted her eyes around the room uncertainly, receiving an encouraging thumbs-up from Jesse she nodded once and stood from her seat. Dom placed a hand on her shoulder and squeezed it before shepherding her out to meet the man.

“Hector, this is Cara. Cara this is Hector.”

“Hey, mija! How you living?”

She couldn’t bring herself to actually talk to the guy so she settled for a ghost of a smile and a tiny nod. He didn’t seem bothered, probably having been filled in by Dom.

“Here,” Hector pulled a small piece of paper from his pocket and tried to hand it to her. Feeling her tense under his hand, Dom smoothly intercepted and took it for her. “This is my direct number, if someone gives you shit and Dom ain’t around for some reason you give me a call. Can be wherever you are in less than ten. If you can’t talk then press any number three times, I’ll get the hint.”

Well, that was unexpected. It was strange, how there seemed to be so much decency in the world. It was majorly fucking with her head and she’d no doubt need some time to process this later. Still, she appreciated the gesture. Dom trusted this guy’s pack so she didn’t have any good reason not to herself. His help would be a last resort, after all, she didn’t plan on getting any farther than a couple hundred feet from Dom for a while.

“Thanks Hector, we appreciate it.”

“No problem, man. I’ll get out of your hair, I need to get back and make sure no one’s broken something.”

“Good deal, take care of yourself.”

Hector threw them a casual wave goodbye and walked out the back door, yelling goodbyes to the other men working on his way.

“Here,” Dom handed her the paper, “keep this on you. Anything happens I want you to use it. I trust Hector with my life, he’ll take care of you.”

“Thanks.” Her voice was raspy again.

“Letty will be coming be back soon with some cold medicine. It tastes like shit but we got some soda you can wash it down with.” Cara wasn’t excited at the cold medicine but she was never one to turn down medical care.

“You want to go back in with Jesse?” She nodded gratefully. She could do with a nap too but she’d settle for Jesse’s comforting rambles in the quiet room. “Good deal,” he patted her head, “I’ll check in on you guys in a little bit. Have fun.”

Some time later, after she had settled back into her routine in the tech room and successfully shifted her thoughts to the designs in front of her, Letty entered with the cough medicine and two cans of Coke. She stood there while Cara downed the dose, disgusting, and also handed her a couple of Advil to help fight off any fever she might be developing.

Cara noticed that it was more chilly in the room than usual, maybe she really was coming down with something. That was only a bit terrifying, the last time she had gotten sick she ended up getting her face crushed to the floor covered in vomit. Kicks to her stomach hadn’t helped to settle it and she had practically choked on the bile that came up. She had gotten a fever that time, probably from the infected gash Alpha had sliced down her side. There was a faint memory of a female beta forcing medicine down her throat periodically. A week later she was finally lucid and very surprised that she had woken up at all.

“Pup? You there?” Letty placed her hand on the desk, interrupting Cara’s thoughts. “You went blank for a minute.”

She nodded, they had given her medicine and she didn’t have a fever and no one was mad that her voice was hoarse. She was fine, totally safe here.

“Okay,” Letty said doubtfully, “we’ll head home in a few hours. You guys almost done with the specs?”

“We finished an hour ago, take a look it’s fucking badass!” Jesse tilted the screen towards Letty and excitedly explained the intricacies of the mods and how his new adjustments would affect something or the other. Cara wasn’t really paying attention at this point.

She had taken to scenting the air around her as a sort of challenge to differentiate between the scents coming off of her borrowed clothes. She was fairly certain that she got everything down and it provided a nice distraction from the sense-memory of her old pack. Their scent was nearly nonexistent on her clothes now, but sometimes she thought she could smell it still. It was disappointing to have the knowledge that she still had her pack’s scent tied in with her own due to the bond. It was definitely not appealing to the people around her and she wondered how they never seemed bothered by it. It was a question that she was itching to ask but didn’t feel like going through the awkwardness of disappointment of their answer.

By the time everyone was ready to go she was feeling a bit out of it, more so than normal. It wasn’t anything she couldn’t push through but noticeable enough to be mildly disconcerting. She went straight to Dom, she wanted to ride back with him tonight. A choice that she never bothered to make for herself before.

“See you at home!” Dom said to the others. She climbed into the passenger seat and clicked her seatbelt on, safety first.

“You look tired.” He commented.

“I feel kinda off?” Her voice was more hoarse than earlier.

“It might be the medicine, maybe later you can try a lower dose.”

“Okay.”

“If you need to you can go to bed early, or you could hang around the pack until you fall asleep. It’s up to you.”

“Pack.” She spoke before she could stop herself, vaguely aware that she did not say _your_ pack or _the_ pack to separate herself from them.

Dom picked up on the slip and fought off a grin, pleased, “Can’t say it doesn’t feel good to hear you say that.” From the streetlights’ illumination he caught her blushing.

Not wanting to push his luck, he allowed the car to fill with comfortable silence for the rest of their drive back. The kid was nodding off a little, not even keeping the tight grip on her backpack that she usually did. Her scent was calm and content, not a trace of the fear that used to cloud around her. It was nice to see her like this, it was another glimpse into who she was underneath the conditioning and terror. Someone steady, warm, perceptive of the world around her and how everything connected to each other. He was ready for the day that she would officially join the pack, they all were. Things were moving faster than with Jesse, Leon, and Vince, but that was usually the case with submissives and the pace was mainly due to her personal circumstances. Honestly, Jesse himself would have bonded within a month if Leon had not been there as a pseudo-pack member already.

“We’re here.” Dom pulled into the driveway and spoke quietly to her.

“Hmmm, okay.” She mumbled.

He moved to her side door and opened it, “Okay, up you get.” he helped her to her feet and half-supported her as he took her backpack and led her inside. Mia was studying in the living room and rose to meet them when she noticed Cara’s state.

“We might need to try a lower dose for the cold medicine.”

“Probably, here, pup, let’s get you downstairs.” A hot shower and change into pajamas was in order. Mia let Cara wash up and decided not to bring her a change of clothes, opting instead to give her the opportunity to choose some that had the scents she wanted on them.

“Here,” Vince poked his head out of his room and handed her another one of his shirts, this one was long-sleeved “Can you put this on her bed? I don’t want to go into her room.”

“Yeah, sure.” So far Mia had been the only one with permission to step into Cara’s room without her being there, even Dom dared not cross the threshold without her knowing.

“Hector’s running for ‘favorite uncle.’” He told her.

Mia snorted, “Of course he is, you jealous?”

“Not as long as he doesn’t try to steal her away.” She rolled her eyes.

“He’s not dumb. Also, his pack has a submissive and they’re the traditional type.

“Yeah, yeah.” He waved her off and disappeared back behind his door.

Mia waited until Cara stepped out of the bathroom. Her hair was wet and she had put back on her day clothes. “Just wanted to make sure you didn’t fall over. Take you time getting ready for dinner.” And she left her to it.

Cara felt much more awake after the shower. Her brain was still a little fuzzy but not as disoriented. She spotted a new shirt on her bed instantly, smelled like Vince. Slightly amused at his persistence she changed into it along with a pair of sweatpants, socks, and a bulky sweater. She really wanted her beanie now, her head was cold and an urge to cover her neck was creeping up fast. Maybe it was because she was feeling sick, maybe it was the stress of the past few days, maybe it was the medicine that was fucking with her head, but her hindbrain was demanding her to seek safety in anything and everything that she could. So, she grabbed the beanie, grease-smudge and all, and pulled it down tightly so as to keep her hair in place. That was maybe one-percent better, but one-percent was better than zero.

When she finally made her way up to the kitchen and took her designated place at the table no one said anything about the reappearance of her hat, accepting that this was one of those things that were instinct to her. Dinner was quieter than usual but no less rambunctious; Jesse talked with his mouth full, Letty and Vince kicked each other under the table, and Vince and Brian kept giving each other shit like they were getting paid for it. When it was time to put her plate away she tried to help Jesse wash things again but Vince steered her away to the family room. She chose to sit on the floor again, the thought of being at the same height as the pack alpha by sitting on the armchair was a bit too much for her right now. Besides, this way she had more space to curl up.

Leon took one look at her position and arose, grabbing the coffee table and pulling it away from her. “Scootch a bit the right?” He asked. She moved until her back was against the couch instead of the far left armchair. “Thanks.” He plopped down in the spot she had vacated and handed her a blanket, smelled like him, she noticed. “It sucks to be on the edge when you feel like shit.” He said nonchalantly.

The rest of the pack kept to their usual spots but had angled themselves so that they were postured more towards her than the center of the room. Cara was pretty much oblivious to it at this point, allowing them to move around her and settle themselves in. The pack scent was stronger like this and it went a good deal of a way to convincing her hindbrain to calm the fuck down. She was still feeling self-conscious of her own scent but tried not to dwell on it, not wanting to interrupt the peaceful atmosphere.

The room was almost completely dark and only illuminated by the TV, some obscure sci-fi film that Jesse managed Leon to play. She sensed Dom above her, a steady presence that she let be a main point of focus. Under the blanket she was warm and relaxed, it was easy to fall to sleep.

\----------  
Dom felt the sleep enter into Cara’s scent, good, she needed the rest. Hopefully they’d be able to get another dose of medicine into her before they put her to bed. Her scent and mood were soothing his inner alpha despite them not yet being bonded. It was a feeling that he was unused to having never had a submissive in their pack before. Calming down Jesse brought a similar ripple of satisfaction but certainly not to this degree. He was mildly curious as to why she had put her beanie back on, more so that she had done it despite the hat still being smudged with grease. But as long as she felt comfortable he wouldn’t push it, avoiding a drop was more important than stressing about grease stains on clothing.

The family time stretched on later than they would usually let it, no one wanted to disturb the pup who was now nearly fully collapsed against the side of the couch. It wasn’t until they were really up against the sleep clock that Dom called it bedtime. He arose from the couch and stretched, loathe to wake up the kid near his feet.

“Hey, pup,” He whispered to her but received no response “kid, it’s time for bed.” She was out light a fucking light. Well, he couldn’t just leave her there. Taking a big risk he crouched down and placed one arm around her shoulders and another under her knees then tucked her up to his chest. She stirred a bit but didn’t fuss too much.

“Dom.” Leon said with a suddenly dark tone to his voice, he turned to him and Leon nodded towards Cara’s tilted neck. The mess of scars that layered her nape were exposed but shadowed by the darkened room. They would have been unnoticeable except for the blue light of the TV and a lamp that Mia had turned on to find her way.

“I know.” He replied with the same tone “And you know to be careful about it, that’s enough we can do for now.”

“Goodnight kid.” Leon sighed and pressed a kiss to the top of her beanie, avoiding the grease.

“Goodnight everyone.” Dom said and Vince tailed him to the basement.

“The scar tissue might make her neck stiff, I think we should get her a heating pad to put on them when she’s alone. She wouldn’t say anything if they were bothering her, but the ones on my knee still hurt like a son-of-a-bitch sometimes.”

“I’ll pull one out of the closet later.” Dom laid Cara on her bed and lifted the covers to reveal the nest that she had made the night before. Careful not to disturb it he placed her down and covered her with the blankets. He tilted his head to examine the still-exposed scars on her nape more closely. They really did look irritating, the scar tissue was layered and thick . They might benefit from some steroid creams and massage treatments to loosen them up but until she got comfortable with the idea some heat would do for now.

“Goodnight pup.” Dom kissed two of his fingers and touched her forehead, closing the door on his way out.


	9. Night 5- Nightmare

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> TW for violence and blood

_‘It’s time.’ Alpha’s voice was outside her closet. It was late at night, she could tell by the light through the crack in the door. She closed her legs tightly, there was only one thing he wanted this late._

_The door was ripped open and her alpha stood there in shadow. He didn’t move, seeming to evaluate her chained to the floor. After a moment he reached down and grabbed her by the hair. She was dragged out of the closet, the chain following. A few of the higher-ranking betas were present in the room silently watching them. This was different, alpha didn’t share like this._

_Alpha pulled the switchblade from his shirt pocket and it gleamed in the moonlight. His clothes were immaculate, for now, the white shirt would have to be thrown away once the blood started flowing. Maybe this was when he was finally going to end her. She couldn’t bring herself to care._

_‘Kneel!’ He yelled suddenly, there was a deepness to his voice that she had never heard directed at her before. She tried to obey but apparently wasn’t fast enough because he hauled her up onto her knees himself by nearly pulling the hair out of her scalp. He kept his grip and brought the knife down to her throat, the blade pressed hard enough that she could feel a thin line of blood flow down._

_‘You will obey.’ This wasn’t even an order, it was a fact. The knife moved from her throat and she felt him move his grip on her hair so that he was only holding the ends. Her head rocked back and forth and there was a faint sawing sound, he was roughly cutting it off. When he was done she could feel the lightness and the cool air on the back of her neck._

“Pup?”

_Her neck. Oh, that’s what time it was. Distantly, she knew she should be fighting to throw him off, bolt out the door, get the knife from him somehow and just slit her throat then and there rather than face the bond. But she couldn’t, she was tired, and this was always destined to happen. In a way she was at peace with it, he’d kill her soon anyways._

“Shit, c’mon kid-”

_‘Stay.’ He ordered needlessly. His second-in-command approached and took the switchblade from him, wrapping it in a clean white handkerchief. Monroe knelt to the floor next to her and twisted her head harshly until it was at the angle he wanted._

_Then, he pounced. His hand closed around her throat and suddenly she couldn’t breathe. Panic-please-stop-terror washed over her as black spots entered her vision. She tried to twist away but he grabbed her far shoulder and dug his fingernails in, nearly piercing the skin even through the fabric of her shirt._

  
“Cara, you gotta-”

_‘I said stay!’ He roared before she felt sharp incisors bite down, for the first time, into the flesh on the back of her neck. For a split second she felt nothing, then fire seemed to burn across her skin. Wrong-wrong-pain-stop-sorry-wrong flowed from her so strongly that she nearly choked on it instead of alpha’s hand still pressing into her airway. He just deepend the bite and she felt blood flowing freely from his mark._

_“_ Don’t touch her!”

_It was like being caught in a hurricane without ever reaching the eye. Every moment of pain and fear and loss that she had ever felt came to the forefront of her mind. The scents of the betas and her alpha grew sharper and she could physically feel her own scent changing to match theirs. It was like something inside of her was breaking and then fitting itself back together out of place. She was crying, she knew, she would have screamed if she could-_

“Pup!”

_She was choking, coughing on the shock and terror running through her. Run run run run run thrummed through her whole being. Where was the chain There was no chain but she was tied down, twisted in something. She fought to get it off, her limbs flailing uncoordinated._

“Easy, easy-”

_She actually screamed now, there was more than one voice, who the fuck would talk to her? Alpha would hear them and then-_

“Shh, c’mon, it’s okay. Brian-?”

She managed to kick whatever was on her off and threw herself out of the bed. There were three men in the dark room, they weren’t shaped like alpha, where was alpha? She still couldn’t catch her breath, or think, or really even see. There was no light except for...the moon, a full moon, it was just the first night.

“It’s okay now-”

She ran blindly down an unfamiliar hall, there were stairs and she climbed them but tripped in her panic. A sharp pain went through her shin but that was nothing compared to what she was in for.

“Leon! Get the front door!”

There were footsteps running from above her. What direction was the door, could she make it in time? There though, there was the back door right in front of her. It was glass, she could break it if she needed to. She just needed-

A flurry of movement came from behind her and another man cut in front of her to block that exit as well. Where was the bathroom window? That one had no lock! Where was it? She started coughing again and couldn’t stop but tried to run again anyways. She turned left and there was a kitchen, why was the kitchen here? Disoriented, she turned in a circle, four men, one at the front door, one in the larger room, one at the back door, and one on top of the steps that she had just climbed.

“Listen, pup,” The largest man was talking to her. He was an alpha, she could smell it. Not good not good not good. Not thinking, she dove to the right, taking her chances with two betas. The blond one was looking at her wide-eyed with his palms out.

“Take it easy.”

“She’s having a flashback.” The alpha said, and what was a flashback?

“I need you to breathe.” The blond went on.

She faulted to the left and then tried to evade him and get closer to the door, that beta looked hesitant to engage with her, good.

“Cara, stop!” The alpha called.

That threw her off, the beta at the door now looked more determined at the alpha’s call. She stepped back, she couldn’t get out of here but she needed to find some kind of safety. The kitchen, she could make it if she was lucky. Not letting herself hesitate a second longer she dodged a hall table and made it to the other room, frantically looking around.

“As long as she doesn’t leave it’s okay.” The alpha was saying.

“What the hell happened.”

“I got no idea.”

She saw a knife on the counter and a cabinet near the sink. She grabbed the knife and heard a panicked shout from behind her. Not paying attention, she wrenched the cabinet open and crammed herself into the narrow space between the pipes and the wall. She didn’t have enough time to close the door before the alpha was there, crouched in front of the cabinet with his hands out and a sad look on his face.

 _‘Watch out.’_ She thought.

“Hey kiddo,” he sounded like he was talking to a cornered dog, which was actually pretty accurate for the situation.

“It’s me, Dom, you know me.” The fuck she did. Where was Alpha? She needed to get back before he noticed that she was gone. _Fear_ invaded the small space she was in and she knew that she was reeking up the rest of the house with it.

“I know that everything is really jumbled right now, but I promise you that you’re safe here.” She held the knife tighter, blade out towards him, her hands were shaking and she was still making these weird rasping breaths.

“I need you to put the knife down.” He said lowly, “you’re shaking and it might slip, I don’t want you to hurt yourself on accident. Fuck ‘on accident,’ she’d slit her throat right then and there if she had to.

“Dom-” The alpha waived the other voice off.

“I need you to take deep breaths for me, try to scent the air.” She couldn’t, she couldn’t do it. The realization of this caused her to physically jerk back. Her knife clattered to the floor.

Before she could move, the man swiftly grabbed it and she let out a terrified scream, finally letting the tears she was holding back fall.

“No no no, it’s gone, see? It’s gone.” He put the knife on the floor, one hand still raised in the air in a ‘calm’ gesture. He slid it somewhere behind him. She was now defenseless in a strange home with a foreign pack and awaiting certain death whenever Alpha managed to track her down.

“Breathe.” He said again.

She couldn’t breathe! She couldn’t fucking breathe he needed to get the fuck away. Her head was getting heavy and what felt like a black hole was opening up somewhere in her core.

“She’s dropping.” The alpha spoke louder, was that panic in his voice? He finally reached for her, she would have been impressed at the restraint he demonstrated so far had she not been out of her mind. He managed to get her out of the cabinet despite her kicking all the way and cradled her in his lap, trying to get her to put her nose against his neck. She fought, even landing a punch but he didn’t relent.

“Breathe pup, just breathe. C’mon, do it with me now.” Fuck him and his breathing. A hand reached for her head and this time she flailed so hard that she managed to dislodge his grip. She scrambled back on the floor and then curled into a ball on the ground, covering her nape with both hands, it left her core extremely vulnerable but there were higher priorities to take care of.

“No, no no no.”

“Leon, it’s okay, Dom’s got it.”

“She won’t scent him!”

“She can’t, this is one of those times. He needs to bring her back first.”

Someone laid down next to her a few feet away, she was begrudgingly grateful for the consideration.

“My name is Dom Toretto, your name is Cara. You’ve been with us for five days, you left Alexander Monroe over four months ago. Last night you went to the garage with us and worked on car designs. You like mango and drawing.” Everything but her name was wrong, she never even tasted mango before.

“You’re safe here. Monroe’s gone and you got no hits coming from me or any of my pack. You’re holding onto your nape pretty tight,” she shuddered and it didn’t go unnoticed “are you hurt there or anywhere else?” Yes, yes, her neck was on fire from the bite and she could feel blood crusting from the cut on her shin and there was pain everywhere but why the fuck would she give them more ammuniztion?

“Kid, this is really important. Does your nape hurt?” She felt herself groan pathetically. He reached out to her and she started fucking pleading with the stranger. Don’t touch her, don’t hurt her, she was _sorry sorry sorry_.

A hand touched her back lightly, it rubbed slow circles between her shoulder blades. Another one reached for her face and she keened. It didn’t punch or slap her, just rested lightly on her cheek. “Come back to us, Cara, ease off the clutch a bit.”

 _‘Ease off the clutch a bit’_ echoed from the back of her mind. She’d heard that before, hadn’t she?

“Just breathe with me, that’s all you have to do right now.” He didn’t move another muscle except to keep up the circles on her back and periodically stroke his thumb across her cheek.

It took what felt like hours until a faint scent began to trickle through her nose. Warmth like coffee, desert flowers, rainwater, there was a hint of leather somewhere in the background. She inhaled greedily, suddenly able to breathe.

“That’s it, good pup.” The alpha’s voice rumbled and she swore she felt it through her bones.

“-nose is coming back online.” A distant voice said.

“Desert flowers, rainwater, warmth like coffee, leather somewhere.” She didn’t realize that she was talking until the words were out.

“That’s pack, it’s our pack. You’re doing great. Can we get you up off the floor now? Nice and easy. Thanks pup, great work.” Once again she was being cradled against a broad chest and now a whole new scent was coming through, motor oil, orange zest, musk, and then she was fucking gone. Gone because she knew this scent somehow, it was safety and kindness and promised protection and a home. The dichotomy of it and the acrid smell that had been in the back of her mind since she woke up was so stark that it threw her out of her body.

“She’s freaking out.”

“She’s not dropping.”

“Because she recognizes Dom.”

She was being carried now and she didn’t even care, not as long as the scents didn’t leave her. There was the motion of going down stairs and then a shift in air as they entered into a new room, the same one she woke up in. It really should have terrified her to be back in there but she was past the point of caring. They were sitting on the bed now and different fabrics were being pulled over her.

“Deep breaths.” The alpha’s voice came again, she obeyed and a flurry of scents assaulted her. “Are you with us now?”

“D-don’t b-b-bite.” She stuttered weakly and felt the alpha tense.

“No, no one’s biting anyone. Is Monroe’s hurting you?” There was still fire radiating from it, so yes. “Can I look, please?” It was the plea that made her relent, who the fuck cared, she still had ninteen more moons of biting to go anyways.

Her hair was shifted away and a warm hand rested itself just below her nape, not yet touching so as to give her time to back out. She didn’t, nineteen more moons. She did jump when two warm fingers grazed over the center of the mess of scars. The shock of foreign hands touching her there made her nauseous and she would have puked if not for what followed after.

The fingers stroked gently along the gruesome flesh with almost enough pressure to be considered rubbing. They did not bring pain, they did not poke or prod or stab at the healed wounds. Slowly the burning fire faded away until there was none of it left. She collapsed fully against the other person.

“Better?” His voice rumbled through her. She gave no response, but none was needed.

\------------

Cara refused to let go of Dom for a long time, each time he shifted she made a pained noise. He kept his two fingers right where they were with the hope keeping away whatever pain had been there before. Seeing her crammed into that cabinet with a butcher knife grasped in her hands had nearly broken him. Earlier, he saw a glimpse of who she could be, tonight they saw what she had been. If there had been any place in him that was in doubt of her belonging to the pack it was gone now, she was theirs, bond or not. She had let him touch her neck, had calmed at him touching her neck.

“Fuck,” Leon breathed, having not witnesed her panic the night she tried to run away, “just, fuck.”

“How do they feel?” Vince referred to the scars seriously.

“Bad, they were hurting her.”

“It was phantom pain.” Brian interjected, “I think she had a flashback to the forced-bonding. The shit that she was screaming made that part pretty clear.”

“Everyone’s awake.” Vince informed Dom.

“They need to stay up there for now, she’s not moving anytime soon anyways. And it’s only” he looked at the clock, “three thirty. Everyone should try and get more sleep before work.”

“Are we still going in?”

“She needs routine, even if she’s just burrowing in Jesse’s office all day it’s better than leaving her here with the memory of being trapped.”

“Okay brother, but I’m not leaving.”

Dom managed to shift himself so that he and Cara were leaned against the headboard together with only a few whimpers from her. “If you guys want to stay that’s on you, but Mia and Letty will be wanting answers and it’s not a good idea for her to wake up surrounded.”

“I’ll take the chair then.”

Brian and Leon looked disappointed in leaving but understood the rationale. And neither of them could deny the base need to be with their partners after what they had just witnessed. They left without saying goodbye to the kid, not wanting to disturb her rest.

“She fell on the stairs.” Vince reminded Dom.

He sighed, “Check her leg for me?”

Vince lifted the leg of her sweatpants and saw the deep scrape immediately. He swallowed at the old burns there as well but decided not to say anything. He left the room and came back with a first aid kit.

“This will do, for now. Don’t move kid, I’m just cleaning it up a little.” Cara was back to being nonverbal but did flinch at the first touch of the wet wipe Vince was using to clear the blood away. He finished putting on the antibacterial cream and bandages as quickly as he could before packing everything away and leaving the kit on top of the dresser.

He turned off the lights, “Night, Dom.”

“Get some rest V.”

“That’s a tall order, boss.”

“You’re no good to her strung out on lack of sleep. She’s fine, we expected this happening and now it did. We can go forward from here just fine.”


	10. Day 6- Found

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for all the support!
> 
> This chapter is a bit shorter than the others, but more is coming soon.

“Kid?” Dom whispered, trying to wake her. When he received no response he gave her shoulder a gentle nudge, “It’s time to wake up now, coffee and breakfast.” When she still gave no indication that she had heard him he shifted her up and looked down at her face. Her eyes were open and staring absently at the bedroom door. Dom scented the air, she wasn’t in drop which was good but made her current state all the more concerning. 

“Vince” Dom got the other man’s attention from across the hall, “get Brian for me, will you?”

Vince, who had left his door open to keep watch during the night, raised his head off the pillow, “Everything okay?”

“I think so, just get Brian, will you?”

Vince was upright in a second and marched determinedly to the second floor. While he waited for the ex-cop, Dom tapped Cara’s wrist and arm with the tips of his fingers in an ever-changing rhythm, trying to break her out of her head by introducing another stimuli.

“What’s up?” Brian asked, he looked down at the pair. Dom was sitting fully up and had moved Cara so that she was more or less upright as well, but she depended on Dom’s shoulder for support.

“She’s awake but out of it, not in a drop. You see anything like this before?”

“Looks like moderate dissociation. It’s not abnormal after the flashback last night.”

“Explains why she’s nonresponsive.”

“Her mind’s hiding right now, we’ll just keep her warm, give her some scents to sniff, and she’ll come out of it in her own time.”

“How long?”

“She was totally disconnected from reality last night to the point that she lost her nose. I can’t give you a timeline but I wouldn’t be surprised if she was out of it for a few days. Probably not like this all the time, more like shock.”

“How are we supposed to take her to the garage like this?” Vince asked

“She needs routine, and there’s safety in numbers which her hindbrain will pick up on. I hate to say it, but she’s going to need orders. Like ‘eat breakfast’ and ‘put your seatbelt on.’”

“She’s going to hate us when she comes out of it.”

“She’ll hate us more if we leave her to starve for three days when we could have done something about it.”

Dom sighed, “Fine. Cara, hey pup, we’re going to leave you here. I want you to get changed to go to the garage and then come upstairs for breakfast. Okay?” The girl nodded and the men quickly left the room to give her privacy after ensuring that she was able to hold herself upright. 

“You know, this isn’t a regression.” Brian commented.

“The fuck do you mean?” Vince shot back, “She’s more nonverbal than when Dom picked her up off the side of the road! She had a flashback to her first night of being  _ force bonded _ , she didn’t recognize any of us even after scenting the fucking pack! The fuck do you mean this isn’t a bad thing?”

“I said that it isn’t a  _ regression _ , it’s a fucking shitty thing to happen. But she  _ did _ remember us and she calmed down when Dom touched her bite marks. If she  _ didn’t _ trust us I guarantee you that she’d have gone into drop or tried to bolt out the door even knowing what’s out there. It’s a process, Vince, accept it or let it burn away at you but only one of those options is going to be useful here.”

Vince growled at Brian like he wanted to say something more but Dom stepped in between the two of them, “Focus on now, breakfast, coffee, garage, home. Keep her in blankets and don’t get in the way of Jesse’s tangents. Brian’s right, she’ll come out of this when she’s ready.”

When Cara joined the pack upstairs she was dressed in basically the same outfit as the day before, but at least the clothes were clean. She looked like a ghost, pale skin and dark shadows under her eyes, and moved like she was on autopilot. Breakfast was quiet and tame, the usual hair-ruffles and pats on her shoulder were absent so as not to spook her. When they were ready to leave she followed Dom obediently to the car.

They were stopped by Jesse who was a little out of breath. He held one of his own beanies in his hand, a mulitcolored will thing that would be a bit baggy on her head. “Here,” he held it out to her, “it’s super warm.” She took it but gave no response, not even a twitch in her facial expression.

“Thanks Jesse.” Dom gave the kid a warm smile and hugged him. The dude was really one of a kind.

Cara didn’t put the hat on until they were in the car and she had fastened her seatbelt. Dom counted it a win that she put it on at all. He caught her scenting the air a few times, probably trying to pick up on Jesse’s scent, her nose might still be off from last night.

“I know you’re pretty far away right now, pup. But you just take all the time that you need. We’re still going to be here when you come back.” She didn’t respond, of course, but Dom had a feeling that she knew.

When they arrived at the garage Dom bundled her up in a thick blanket that he kept in the storeroom and sat her in Jesse’s room. He put her backpack next to her, just in case, and left the pair to it.

“That’s a good beanie, I like the colors but sometimes it’s too hot out to wear it, you know?” Jesse rambled, “I think your hair is cool without a hat too, it’s a good color. Sometimes it looks a little purple, it might look interesting on a car. Or your eye color, I thought they were green for a while but then I saw how they change colors and was like ‘wow, grey eyes are chill.’” He held on to some hope that she would jump in the conversation, or blush at the compliments, or  _ something _ , but she gave no indication that she was listening to his tangent. Still, he kept up a steady stream of nonsense talk because that’s what he would want someone to do for him.

Letty kept poking her head in the room every thirty minutes, periodically he would hear a “Still quiet” from her when she returned to the others. He could smell the  _ worry-scared-distress _ coming off everyone even through the door and admired their resolve to not poke at her. Jesse didn’t think that any one of them, besides Brian, had seen this kind of thing before. Dom was probably going crazy trying not to intervene. So far he had only been able to calm his instincts by allowing her to burrow into him and wrapping her in blankets and scents. 

Had she been bonded to the pack there would be a helluva lot more they could do to help. Pack piles, submissive holds, Dom would even be able to take her down into subspace or hold her nape. But that wasn’t happening, not now and maybe not for years. He had seen the scars, adding another bite on top of the tough skin would be intense both physically and psychologically. And Dom couldn’t bring her into subspace during the bonding, she needed to be fully aware otherwise consent was revoked. He did not envy her, she would be, in a way, sacrificing more than any of them had to. 

Jesse would always remember when he bonded into the pack. He had been the sixth and had did it a month after Leon. Not because he was afraid of losing him though, he needed Leon to join first to show him that it would be alright. Pathetic, maybe, but it was what he needed.

Leon got Cara to take another dose of cold medicine, without hearing her voice or being able to take her temperature. Mia had switched it out for a non-drowsy one so as to avoid her feeling like they were drugging her. She ate a few bites of her lunch and obediently drank water when ordered to. Sometimes, when there was a loud bang or roar of an engine from the workspace of the garage she startled. They couldn’t help it, but nonetheless it brought on feelings of guilt. 

The day passed by too slowly, Jesse’s throat was starting to get sore from all the talking he was doing but he didn’t mind. He and Cara had a different connection than with the others, and not just because of their orientations. Their brains worked different, his constantly processing and speeding through information, hers making connections between seemingly unrelated things and processing them unconsciously. It made associating with other people harder, it was more difficult to translate their thoughts to others. 

He wondered what was going through her mind right now, or if there was anything going on at all. Maybe she was completely gone, maybe she was stuck in her body and reliving old traumas. He hoped for her sake that it was the former. There was nothing quite as terrifying as being trapped in your own mind.

\-----------------

It was dark out by the time they left and she still had not said anything. Dom once again had to physically steer her to the car and buckle her seatbelt for her. He didn’t bother taking away the blanket, maybe the smell of motor oil and engine grease would be soothing since it was a part of several of their scents. 

“It was a busy day today,” Dom spoke to her, “but we’re making good progress on Hector’s cars. We shouldn’t have to work on Sunday unless something unexpected comes up. Hector’s pack really did a number on the cars, I don’t know how they managed to get them that busted up. It would be easier to just scrap them but Hector’s sentimental.” 

Dom recognized the street that they were on, the same one they took to the shop the day before. On a whim he made a left turn into the small parking lot.

“Just a second, pup. Stay right here.” He closed her door and locked the car just to be safe.

“Hey Ms. Flores.”

The woman turned around from where she was stocking to-go cups, “Dominic! Why have you not visited me sooner?” She scolded him playfully.

“Sorry, got caught up in a few things. But I couldn’t stay away from you dark roast too long.”

“It’s the best is Los Angeles, if you start going to Starbucks I’ll come for your head. Do you want a medium or a large?” 

“Medium is fine and a hot chocolate too please.”

“Is Mia here?” Ms. Flores looked at his car curiously.

“No, just picking it up for a friend.” He knew that the woman would love to meet the kid, but if Monroe’s people came looking around her knowledge of Cara would only put her in danger.

“Well tell your sister to get down here! You both were so cute when you were little.” She puttered around the stall, filling his order and putting extra whipped cream on the hot chocolate.

“Thanks Ms. Flores.”

“Don’t be a stranger, and tell that growly friend of yours to stop smoking! It’ll kill the poor boy.”

Dom laughed, “I’ll pass it along to Vince. You stay safe out here.”

She scoffed, “I’ve been here for close to thirty years, I can take care of myself.”

“You know where to find us.”

“I know, you’re a good kid Dominic.” She patted his back, “Now get the cocoa home to Mia before it gets cold!”

Dom kissed her cheek and returned to the car. He didn’t really need coffee this late, but fuck if it didn’t taste like home. He handed the second cup to Cara, “Here, try this.” She took the hot chocolate at his direction and took a sip. He swore that there was a shift in her features but he chalked it up to the streetlights. She drank the rest of it mechanically and he didn’t worry about her spoiling her dinner with sugar and chocolate. He wondered for a split second it Mia would fret over it but decided that at this point she would be fine with any nutrients that the girl took in. 

When they got home it was completely dark outside, the air was just a bit colder than last week which indicated that the seasons were in fact changing. He wondered if she would still be here by Christmas. Before he opened the door to the house he could smell the rich scent of cheese, beef, and masa from the kitchen. Letty was cooking tamales. Dom sat Cara on the couch next to Leon and Jesse who were enjoying a fierce game of Mario Cart.

“What’s up, kid?” Leon smiled at her. He paused the game and handed her a Twizzler from the pack on the coffee table, “Eat this, dessert before dinner is the best order to go in.”

Dom looked at Leon and was about to say something but then remembered his own disregard for proper nutrient intake just twenty minutes ago. Whatever, it was strawberry flavored so that must count for something.

“I’ll leave you to it, keep and eye on them pup.” 

“Leon’s the one who needs a babysitter, he’s cheating, Dom!” Jesse complained

“Cheating my ass, it’s not my fault you can’t drive for shit.”

“That’s major bull, man, and you know it.”

“Play nice boys.” Their alpha rolled his eyes and left them to it. Cara was home, the house was warm, and she was safe under their protection. No use fretting over her when there were seven people in here who wouldn’t hesitate to cap a bastard if they so much as stood in their driveway.

“Tamales?” He asked Letty, he leaned against the oven and studied the dishes overflowing in the sink, Letty wasn’t known to be a clean cook.

“And mange and jicama with Tajin.” She said.

“Ah.”

“I figured it might get some kind of response.”

“She associates it with safety, it can’t hurt.”

“I’ve been thinking,” Letty expertly wrapped the food in corn husks “about what  _ leather _ means. It’s not pack, it’s not in any of us.”

“I got no idea, Letty. But it’s a good scent for her.”

“She only said it that night when Brian sat with her.” She thought.

“We know Bri’s base scent, there’s no leather in it.”

She shrugged, “Maybe there is for her.”

“I don’t follow.”

“What if she’s starting to associate feelings with scents?”

“Not base scents, but associated ones that she’s piecing into them?”

“Maybe, I really don’t know. But I don’t think it would hurt if Brian sat with her tonight.”

“It wouldn’t.” Dom agreed.

“You’re getting attached.” Letty turned to face him straight on.

“We all are.” He pointed out.

“Yes, we are, but you’re Alpha and you’re fighting your base instincts so as to not spook her.”

“She isn’t ours yet, we have no right to force it onto her and interfering with the bond of her old pack is dangerous, you know that.”

“I’m not suggesting we get all up in her space like that, I’m just pointing it out because if you keep going like this you’re going to burn out.”

“I’m fine.”

“Are you?”

“Yes, Letty, I am. She’s under our protection, she’s safe, she’s fed, and she lets us help her. That’s enough for now.”

“If we need to let her go, to protect her, it’s going to destroy you.”

“It will, for a while. It’ll hurt all of us, but we do what we have to do to protect our own. Bonded or not, remember the time we spent without Brian? When he got spooked and ran? It took us a full year to find him, and during that time we got through it.”

“She’s not Brian, Dom, she’s not safe here unbonded.”

“That’s why we’re keeping her safe!”

“I’m not arguing with you, I’m just trying to think rationally.”

“We take this day by day. We have contingency plans and allies watching our borders, we can’t do anything more than that.”

Letty relented and nodded, her anxieties stemmed from the potential loss of their (hopefully) future submissive. The betas and alpha had maintained stability just fine before their meeting her. But having a submissive brought another layer and domain into the pack’s functioning. There was a reason why subs were often treated as property, if a pack lost one they lost their center and spiraled into disorder.

“It’s easy enough to eat with a fork,” Letty pivoted, “easy on the stomach too. I think her spice tolerance is decent.”

“She’ll eat anything with direction.” He sighed, “The problem is getting her to eat enough of it.”

“We’ll compensate when she comes out of this funk. I’m surprised she didn’t go into full drop.”

“She almost did.”

“But you prevented it.” She looked at him again seriously, “She’s okay now, just needs some time. I remember how jumpy Jesse was when he first started working at the garage.”

“He was skittish for a whole year, Letty.”

She waved him off, “Yeah, yeah, and now look at him. Cool as a cucumber.”

Dom snorted, “Jesse’s version of cool.”

“I thought I was the cool one?” Brian surprised them.

“You’re the snowman.”

“The coolest thing there is.”

Letty smacked him with a dish towel and he jumped back, laughing. “We got another hour before dinner is ready, go sit next to Cara.”

Brian looked to Dom, “We’re testing something out. Letty thinks that she’s picking up leather in your scent.”

“My scent doesn’t have leather in it.”

“Not that we can smell, but go to her anyways.”

Brian shrugged, “Not like it’s a hardship, I am her favorite beta after all.” He stuck his tongue out at Letty.

“You wish, I don’t see her wearing  _ your  _ scarf around all the time.” She napped back.

“Why is everyone acting like children today?” Dom mused at them.

Brian ignored his alpha and sat down with quiet enthusiasm next to Cara. She was relaxed into the couch instead of sitting up ramrod straight like she usually did, progress. He left a couple of inches between them and willed his scent to be stronger. Jesse and Leon twitched their noses at the strength of it but didn’t say anything. 

He pretended to not pay attention to the girl, if she was aware of anything going on around her it would just make her uncomfortable. He stole glances at her every now and then, noting the way that she had her arms crossed around her middle, the slight tilt of her head, the thousand-mile stare in her eyes. He wanted to soothe her, but knew it wasn’t the time. It wasn’t until it was nearly time for dinner that he noticed a change, there was a single tear running down her cheek and her nose flared with each inhale she took. 

“Pup,” he started gently, for once in his life unsure of what to say, “how about some dinner?” She didn’t give any indication that she heard him, but when he stood her up she leaned into him minutely.

Leon noticed and tilted his head at Brian, “She’s fine.” Brian said and then walked with the pair to the kitchen. She wasn’t crying anymore and her eyes were only tinted just a little red. No one would comment anyways.

They started with the tamales, Dom had to order Cara to take bites several times but didn’t push her past a third of the meal, he wasn’t sure what her stomach could handle and didn’t want her throwing up. When Letty brought the mango and jicama to the table Cara stared at her plate for a long time.

She picked up her fork with shaky hands and took a bite of mango without being prompted, another tear falling. 

_ ‘There she is’ _ Dom thought.

  
  



	11. Day 6- Lost

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the delay, my mental health has been iffy the last few weeks.
> 
> This is a short chapter, but I'm working on the next part. I wanted to give insight into Cara's frame of mind during her dissociation. More fluff next chapter, because I'm a sucker for it.

The world was dark, and quiet, and empty. She had no sense of time or space, or even who she was. Her mind felt heavy and a thick haze clouded any coherent thoughts she might have been able to form. 

From somewhere far away she felt warmth surrounding her, and a firm pressure tapping on her body somewhere. No one touched her except to cause hurt, the foreign sensation shot a bolt of concern through her body but really she couldn’t be bothered to do anything about it. There was noise, sounded like a low rumble that she felt in her very core, her body moved on it’s own volition and the warmth was gone only to return a moment later. 

More movement, muffled sounds coming from somewhere far away, a hard surface suddenly underneath her. The movement and commotion felt like too much, sensory overload. She couldn’t move, couldn’t make any noise, wouldn’t allow herself to. Something bad would happen, she  _ knew _ it, how so she did not know but it was an ultimate truth ingrained into her very being. 

The same low rumble from before was directed to her and her arm suddenly moved. Did she still have arms? What was the purpose of them if she could not control them? 

_ ‘So you can obey _ ’

That’s right, she wasn’t hers she was someone else’s. A taste of something that almost broke the silence. Warmth ran through her chest and it was almost comforting. She kept following unheard directions until it was gone. Different tastes, familiar and good, nothing was supposed to taste good. 

A sudden urge to break through the fog came over her but it was too strong. She gave up,  _ ‘acceptance,’ _ it wasn’t a thought, more so ingrained knowledge, a universal truth. What was her’s and what was someone else’s? Was any part of her owned by herself at all?

_ ‘No.’ _ Another truth,  _ ‘Acceptance.’ _

The sense of movement around her, voices a little quieter than before. Her body moved, the air changed, something was put in her hands and a faster noise that seemed to be focused at her. Soft material that made her nose tickle. It was on her head now, good to know she still had one. Warm and soft, she didn’t allow herself to feel it. A click, her hand had moved, something cold brushed it. 

_ ‘Metal, dangerous, accept.’ _

She accepted.

Another tickle, this one didn’t leave. Rumbling from somewhere,  _ ‘no threat’ _ she sensed. Another thought tried to make itself known, and no no no no! Stay in the dark, don’t come out, not ever. She had been here before, it was safe here, an environment as neutral as limbo. There were imprints and vague sensations but she was far enough away from the surface that they couldn’t fully touch her. She liked this, this quiet. In the back of her mind was another truth, she would one day break the surface, disappointing, but so it goes.

Warmth around her everywhere except her head. Constant medium-pitched noise rattled around somewhere. Temperature changes every so often, it was too much. She wanted the stillness, wanted to be in limbo forever. Fuck heaven, it’s not real anyway, hell was somewhere she had already been, limbo was the best she had left. 

Constant tickling in her nose, a pins-and-needles feeling in her brain that threatened the fog around her. Dangerous, that's what this all was. If she focused hard enough, if she opened herself up more to the darkness, maybe she could….

_ ‘There you go.’ _

It was quiet again and dark as 20,000 leagues under the sea. Instead of tickling in her nose there was numbness, instead of prickling in her brain there was syrup, the definition of safety and all she could hope for apart from death. She let herself drift.

  
  


\-----------------

It was her body moving that nearly ended the peace. Cold, metal, grease, rumbles and vibrations from what were undoubtedly people. Betas or alphas? Subs, unlikely. And how many of them? Another click, more metal, she hated metal.

Maybe she was being sliced open right now, maybe she was finally bleeding out. Perhaps, the darkness would soon become permanent. The scent of  _ something _ so strong that she wanted to sneeze. A brief almost-realization flashed through her mind and it wasn’t one of pain. She squashed it right down, her fucking hindbrain was a naieve little shit. Nothing good would come out of listening to it.

Warmth, again, was put into her hands. Sweet taste on her tongue, another thought attempted to invade and this one was so pressing that she felt a change within herself. The beginnings of  _ something _ stirred in her chest. Hopelessness came soon after, this was going to end, she knew. The sweetness kept flooding her taste buds and warmth steadily pulsed in her chest from whatever she was consuming. Someone was plying her, trying to coerce her into the world. She hated them, she fucking  _ hated _ them just for that. 

More air, more voices, cold outside turned into warmth from what had to be inside. She wanted to  _ go _ , she wanted to be  _ left the fuck alone _ . Was that too much to ask for? She’d do whatever they wanted, even like this, the only difference would be the amount of pain she would have to endure. The bastards knew this, though, they had to. And that’s what made them-

_ Leather _

_ ‘Stop!’ _

The first scent, something that should have been a warning but only made her feel...quiet? No like the quiet from the darkness, but a quiet from herself. She wanted to fill her lungs with it, carry it with her forever. If she couldn’t have dark then she wanted  _ this _ , a suitable relief that would still come at a price.

More obeying, at least she could do that. Maybe it would be enough to keep them happy for a while, maybe she could stay here just a bit longer…

_ Mango _

_ Jicama _

_ Tajin _

Cold water on her cheeks.

_ ‘No.’ _

  
  



	12. Day 7- Feral

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> TW for blood, self-harm, and cussing (a lot of cussing)
> 
> Let me know how this is going!

The relief at the recognition on the pup’s face last night was short-lived. By the time the dishes had been done she was halfway out of wherever she had retreated to, but refused any contact or conversation. Somehow, she had become more skittish than the first day Dom had met her. It took a light order to get her downstairs to bed wherein she had firmly closed the bedroom door. 

Vince had spent the night sleeping next to the basement steps, he was so prepared for her to bolt.

She hadn’t surfaced at her usual time, or when Leon was “making” breakfast (i.e. putting an assortment of cereal boxes on the kitchen table). The nervous energy amongst the pack members was palpable. Dom had yet to go down to gather her, wanting to give her space so that she could be fully grounded. But as the clock ticked closer to six he had no choice but to intervene. 

_ Go away _ dominated the hallway of the basement. Dom stopped, anger was never a scent that Cara had thrown out before. He honestly didn’t think she had it in her, but here they were. He turned around and went back to the kitchen.

“Brian.” 

The sandy haired man looked up from his Fruity Pebbles, “Yeah?”

“Need you downstairs.”

Mia looked up, “What’s wrong?”

“Later. Brian, come on.” 

Looking serious, the man walked with Dom to the wall just before the basement steps. “What?”

“She’s putting off anger.”

Brian raised an eyebrow, “You’re kidding me.”

Dom stared back, “Look at my face, Bri.”

“Shit,” Brian ran through his hair in frustration, “shit.”

“I need you in there now.”

“Dom-”

“A Dom entering the room of an angry sub he isn’t bonded to? There’s no scenario that turns out well.”

“Send Mia in.”

“Mia doesn’t have experience in this, you do.”

“This is way out of my league.”

“Closer than mine.”

“Look, man,” Brian sighed, “there’s a hundred different fucking reasons why she could be pissed and we got no way of narrowing that down. She was  _ gone _ yesterday, Dom. She may be half-feral right now. Best I can do is go in and assess, but if she wants me out then we leave her alone, clear?”

“Take it easy, Bri.” Dom placed his hand on the nape of Brian’s neck, right over his bond bite. “We’re good. Just do your thing, assess the situation, intervene if necessary, and we’ll decide next steps from there.”

“You owe me a NOS.” Brian stared at his Alpha.

“I owe you two, let me know if you need help.”

“No one goes down there unless I call for you, I don’t care what you hear or how deep Vince’s sunk into his savior complex.”

“Heard.”

Brian mumbled a few obscenities as he trudged down the stairs. He wasn’t put off by the task, but he’d seen feral subs try and bite the fingers off of social workers if they so much as looked the wrong way. What little connection he had built with Cara over the past week would do little to prevent him from getting the same treatment if she was completely lost to her baser instincts.

_ GO AWAY _ permeated the hall. Shit, kid was really pissed. There was only a slight trace of fear underneath, confirming that anger was the primary emotion at play.

“Pup,” Brian spoke quietly through the door, “It’s Brian, from the Toretto pack. I’m going to open the door but I’ll stay outside. It’s just me, everyone else is in the kitchen.”

He waited a few seconds before opening the door and the sight before him did little to ease the knot in his stomach. The minimal nest that the kid had built was pushed to the floor along with most of her bedding. Nothing was broken, thankfully, but her backpack was nowhere to be seen and neither was the kid.

“I’m going to step into the room, I can’t see you and want to make sure that you’re safe.” He kept his voice low and calm, carefully enunciating his words so that there would be no confusion in their meaning. 

Brian walked forward until he was a foot away from the bed. Cara was crouched in the corner staring at him with darkness in her eyes. He took her in; her pupils were blown and her hair limp around her face. No beanie and she was in the same clothes as last night. She must have picked this spot intentionally, unseen upon first entry to the room but with enough range of movement to flee which would have been impossible had she chosen the closet. The bed blocked her, both from view and from a sudden attack. Her backpack was strapped tight to her back, a bright scarf was wrapped around her neck, and a wicked looking knife was clutched in her hand, the edge pointed out in what was clearly a well-practiced pose. This was a feral sub if he ever saw one.

Brian held up his hands with his palms out towards her and pushed as much  _ calm-safe-beta _ through his scent as he could. “Hey pup, it’s just me. No harm is coming to you, okay?” She didn’t answer, but he saw her fingers twitch on the knife. “That’s a good blade, must have kept you safe. And you’re holding it exactly the right way to do some damage, you’re pretty skilled, huh?” She bared her teeth at him. 

“Yeah, I know. You’re feeling pretty bad right now. I’m just here to help, you were gone somewhere yesterday and it’s a helluva shock coming back out of it.”  _ That _ got him an actual growl. He persisted; she wasn’t violent, yet, and the fact that she was giving him feedback at all was promising.

“Can you scent me?” 

“Fuck you.” Cara snarled

Brian was taken aback, the menace and pure  _ rage _ in her voice and flowing through her scent was so dichotomous from her usually quiet self. “Hey, it’s good to hear your voice. I can tell that you’re really upset right now. I’d like to understand, can you help me understand?”

“Fuck you!” She screamed. Cara had raised the knife in a threatening gesture but had not advanced towards him. Brian just hoped that Vince would keep his shit together and not barge on down here.

“Cara-”

“Go away!” She held the knife up higher, and that’s when he saw the dark stain on the sleeve of her flannel. 

Brian swallowed and moved to crouch down near the foot of the bed, his hands still up, “Are you hurt?” He whispered, “It looks like you're bleeding.”

She snarled and adeptly tossed the knife into her other hand while wrapping her injured arm around her stomach in the same movement. It would have been impressive if it weren’t so nauseating.

There was a long pause, then Brian said “You’re scaring me.” She didn’t lunge, or snarl, or yell, but there was a flicker of  _ something _ in her eyes. Brian continued, “You’re scaring me because you’re hurt and won’t let me help you. And as proud of you as I am for cussing me out, really kid, that’s a fucking milestone in my book, I wish it was for something that I knew that I did. Can you tell me what you’re thinking? Can we start there?” He prayed that she wouldn’t ask him to leave because there was no way in hell that he would be able to bring himself to. Not with her hurt, not with her bleeding and backed into a corner like a beaten dog. 

Minutes passed, he would be late for work but doubted that they would be making it in today anyways. His knees were starting to ache by the time that she answered, “You took it away.” Her voice was cracked and raspy.

“What did I take away?”

“You made me come back! Fuck you!” She screamed.

“Come back from where?” He asked calmly.

“The dark! I was  _ safe _ and it was  _ quiet _ and then you all made me come! So get the fuck away from me!”

“Okay, okay,” Brian tried to soothe her, “you felt safe when you were dissociating yesterday, yeah? And then you came out of it and you don’t feel safe now, am I hearing you right?”

“Fucking  _ leather _ and  _ mango _ you sick fucks, just kill me already!”

Leather, again, they really needed to follow up with her on that one. “No one is going to kill you, Cara, no one is going to hurt you here.  _ I _ won’t,  _ Dom _ sure as hell won’t, the entire pack would take down anyone who dared try. You are  _ not _ with Monroe, you’re with the Torettos and we don’t beat or cut or burn people, especially not you.” He exhaled heavily, following her line of thinking but hating where this was going.

“You’re all liars, I was  _ safe _ and you took me away.”

“Why aren’t you safe right now, Cara, tell me what’s unsafe right now.” Her eyes darted across the room and he realized then that his job had now officially crossed over into crisis intervention.

“I-I don’t…” She trailed off.

“This is your room, you’ve been here for a week. You made a nest and-” She snarled again and glared at the bed above her like she had a personal vendetta against it. “And,” he continued, “you got your nose back a few days ago and smelled pack. Was it bad?” She shook her head rapidly. “Okay, what can you smell right now?”

“It burns.”

Brian blinked, holy fucking shit. “Okay, that’s okay.” He soothed, “Cara, I need you to put the knife down, okay pup? I’m not going to take it away from you, but if you put it down I’d feel a lot less scared.”

“I...it’s-”

“Shh, I get it. The knife keeps you safe, but I’m here right now, I can keep you safe. Do you trust me?” She fell from her crouch and sat with her knees tucked into her chest and her back against the wall. Her hair now covered her face which made him uneasy with not being able to read her facial expressions, but he took it as a good sign that she wasn’t pouncing.

“Please, put the knife down?” He whispered.

The switchblade made a dull thump against the carpet that echoed through his ears.

“Thank you, that was really good work. I know that everything’s jumbled up right now, but I need to see your arm. I don’t need to move closer, can you pull up your sleeve and I can look at it from over here?” More time passed, he was definitely not clocking in today, but eventually her arm flopped down from where she had been holding it across her chest. Her opposite hand shook as she pushed up the sleeve of her flannel.

The cut was deep and vertical. The kind of cut you do with the intention of killing herself. It wasn’t completely straight, most likely her hand had been shaking when she sliced it. Butterfly bandages might be enough to close it, maybe, but stitches seemed more likely at first glance. 

“That looks like it must have hurt.” She shook her head, “No, it didn’t?” He clarified.

“It- the smell burns and I can’t... I can’t feel right now. Or I couldn’t, I don’t know.”

“Can I come closer?” He saw her whole body tense, “Or maybe I can back up and you can come out here? We don’t need to leave the room, we can stay here if you feel safer.”

“The house is big.” She muttered. The house was, in fact, pretty small for the size of their family but didn’t dare disagree with her. The house felt too big, too unsafe, he could work with that.

“Then we’ll stay put. But we need to bandage that, at least. Can Mia bring us something?”

“I don’t want to see anyone.” 

“I can call for her and you can stay right where you are. That way she won’t be able to see you and could still slide the first aid kit in here.” Cara nodded and curled into the corner more. “Thanks kid, Mia?” He raised his voice but never took his eyes off of Cara. “Can you bring down your med kit?” He got a faint affirmative response from upstairs and thanked whatever god was out there that she was still home. But he had a feeling everyone was still home.

“When did you hurt yourself?” Brian tried to assess how long the wound had been bleeding.

“Fuck off.” 

“I need to know how long it’s been open, it could get infected soon.”

“Who the fuck cares?”

“I fucking care.” Brian said, not unkindly.

“You’re a liar.” The constant switching of her demeanor was starting to give him whiplash. 

“I used to be, but I’m not anymore.” She snorted and he continued, “I messed up when I first met them, I told a really big lie and it almost got people killed. And I ran, I ran straight across the country because I felt like shit, and sad, and like I had lost the only good thing I ever had. But then, Dom found me. He tracked me down and literally threw me into his car. I thought he was going to kill me, he looked pissed enough, and he didn’t say a word to me for the first day. It took me that long to sort out that the anger wasn’t directed towards me, it should have been. Turned out he was more pissed that I  _ ran _ from him than I lied. He was angry at the people who  _ made _ me lie and the people before that who taught me that lying was the only way to survive. I think that you’re like me, a runner.”

“You need to  _ let me go _ !” She growled, proving his point.

“Kid, once you’re healed and it’s safe for you to leave this house I’ll pack your bag myself. But I don’t think you really want that, do you?” He heard her mutter expletives in his direction and was mildly impressed with her vocabulary.

A soft noise to his left signaled Mia sliding her first aid kit into the room. He didn’t look at her, not wanting to draw attention to another person being near. He took the kit and shifted forward towards Cara.

“Okay, come on out now. Let’s get you patched up.”

Her head snapped back to look at him and in less than a second, she was half-feral again. The hand attached to her uninjured arm swiftly picked up the switchblade and held it out in a threatening manner.

Brian took his hand off of the box, “Okay, okay.” He breathed out, “Can I give it to you then? I’ll slide it towards you, I won’t come any closer.” She growled but stayed where she was. Taking that as a yes, he pushed the kit with his foot, not wanting to lower his hands, and it slid across the carpet to her.

“ _ Back up _ .” She growled.

“Okay, no problem.” He scooted back until he was nearly in the opposite corner of the room to her, “Is this okay?”

She stared at him, making full eye contact and holding it for a long while. Brian’s stomach began to growl, how long had they been down here? More than an hour, for sure. She would crash soon, he’d prefer for her to  _ not _ be bleeding when that happened. Finally, she pulled the kit close to her with her foot and opened it with one hand, the other still holding the knife. She rifled through it and took out some gauze, rubbing alcohol, and a suture kit. Brian swallowed, was she really going to do this herself?

“Kid-”

“Shut up.” She finally put her knife down and soaked the gauze in rubbing alcohol. Pressing it to the cut on her arm she didn’t show any indication of pain, still, Brian winced for her. Threading the curved needle she turned from him a bit and slowly began to sew stitch after stitch into the wound. He gagged, thankful that he didn’t eat much of breakfast. He would have been surprised that a fourteen year-old knew how to perform such tasks had he not read the file Jesse had pulled together.

Despite her silence, Brian could tell that by the end of it her hand was shaking and she was paler than before. Whether that was from pain or an adrenaline crash setting in he didn’t know. She wasn’t going to leave the room, that much was certain. If he was lucky she would allow one of them to stay with her. Having hurt herself it wasn’t an option to leave her with the knife, or the med kit and all it’s sharp contents for that matter. In fact, a room search might have to be done. The thought made his stomach roll again, what were the chances of that happening? A small  _ tink _ drew his attention and he saw the needle fall back into the med kit. She reached for the gauze and expertly wrapped it around the fresh stitches.

“All done?” The kid grumbled in response, “Can you slide it back to me, please?” She did, thankfully without protest, and he took a deep breath before laying out the situation to her.

“You have a couple of options right now; you can sit in the family room, stay in here with one of us, or” he paused, “you can stay in here alone, but I’d need to do a room search for anything that you could use to hurt yourself.”

“None.”

He shook his head sadly, “No can do, kid. Keeping you safe is the first priority.”

“Keeping me safe?” She turned back towards him, outraged, “ _ I _ can keep myself safe! For  _ years _ I kept myself safe from Alpha, I spent _ four months _ by myself walking from San Fran to fucking LA! I don’t need your help, I don’t need any of you!” She screamed the last part, Brian felt a stab of hurt through his chest but ignored it, she was lashing out to push him away, she didn’t mean what she was saying.

“You don’t have to keep yourself safe by yourself anymore, don’t you get that?  _ I _ can keep myself going,  _ Jesse _ can get by without us, every single member of this pack is capable of functioning by themselves but they don’t have to, and  _ that’s _ the point. You say you don’t need us, but I know that you  _ want _ us and we want you. Not to beat you, not to hurt you, not to force you down into submission, because you smell like pack and you’re as good as one of us.” He was breathing heavily by the end of his speech and used that to get deeper inhales of her scent. 

_ Scared-confused-FUCK OFF-angry _

Knowing him, he probably just made things worse.

“Leave me  _ alone _ .”

“I can’t do that, not without checking your room.”

“It’s not my room!”

“It is, it is your room forever, even if you leave.” He promised.

“You need to let me go!” He understood then that she didn’t just mean let her go physically, she was telling him to let the idea of her as Pack go as well.

“No.” He said flatly.

“I hate you.”

“No, you don’t.” He said sure and quiet.

Suddenly, she stood, thankfully leaving behind the knife, and leapt over the bed with the dexterity of a feral cat.

“Shit.” He muttered and sprinted after her. She just made it to the open door and swung herself around the corner. “She’s running!” Brian yelled to the upstairs and vividly recalled the third night she was with them, when she had that nightmare.

“Mija-” That was Letty, still in the kitchen. Cara narrowly avoided her but in her haste ran straight into Dom. The pack alpha.

Everything stopped. Cara was breathing heavily, her inhales ragged and short. Brian wondered if her nose was still burning. Dom, to his credit, backed up a few steps and raised his palms in peace.

“Hey pup,” he spoke to her, “it’s good to see you up.”

“You need to let me leave.” She stared straight into the alpha’s eyes, not pleading with him, stating a fact.

“You can leave whenever you want, but not until you calm down and we make a plan for it.” Dom was flooding the entire house with  _ calm-peace-pack-safety _ but it had no effect on her.

“Dom,” Brian called to him, “she said her nose is burning.” The other man’s expression hardened.

“Kid?” Dom looked down at her.

“You need to  _ let me go _ .” She yelled.

And, oh, just like that the last four hours in the basement took on a whole new meaning. She wasn’t angry, not entirely and he was sure that there was some truth to her being pissed that they brought her out of her dissociative episode, she was  _ protecting them _ .

“Leon, call Hector.” Dom ordered, the third man, who was meters behind Dom in the family room pulled out his cell phone immediately, “Tell him to spread out his pack within a ten mile radius of this house. And have him call Leo, too.” Leon, who’s face spoke loudly to his confusion, obeyed without question.

“If you run,” Dom spoke to the pup quietly, “he will find you.”

“He’s coming now!”

“We don’t know that, not yet.”

“He’s my alpha. He could find me anywhere.” She clenched her fist.

“The burning means something, I’m not going to argue with you about that. But we have Hector and Leo patrolling right now and there’s no evidence that he made it into Los Angeles at all. This is the longest you’ve been in one place, yeah? So maybe he’s got a lead, maybe something happened and he’s extra pissed. But Cara, you don’t know exactly what’s going on.”

“I feel the bond.” She stressed, “He knows.” 

“Leo’s got guys at every corner two blocks out.” Leon called to them.

“Leo’s a sadistic bastard, but this works in our favor.” Dom told her.

“No!”

“Yes. It’s going to be okay, kid. Here, sit down-”

She pushed him, weakly, when he stepped to the side to pull out a chair. Dom didn’t react and she pushed him again. “Let me go!” Another push and she stumbled, weak from the adrenaline finally fading and the lack of food and water. Dom caught her arm before she hit the ground which only made her wrench away and trip, she fell to the floor.

_ FEAR _ came out of her again as her body lay limp on the ground in front of Dom’s feet.

“Kid?” Dom crouched down beside her, risking a hit to the head if she was playing possum. But she didn’t respond, and when Dom looked into her still-open eyes he saw that her pupils were blown. Her gaze was distant, and her scent was transforming into something new.

She was in drop.

  
  



End file.
